Missing his heart
by LadyGraceC
Summary: Haruhi is missing someone, but once he returns, will she start missing someone else? My first fanfic ever, please review. ***alternate ending has different paring - MoriXHaruhi***
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**A/N This is my first ever fanfic. Please review. Constructive criticism especially encouraged, as it helps to improve the later chapters and other stories. Thanks a bunch, and I hope you enjoy it. (PS I tried to not get too OOC)**

**Missing his heart**

**Chapter One**

It started out on a day so much like every other day, or so it seemed. Haruhi made it through the day as expected, dodging the twins' antics throughout class and then placidly turning herself into Tamaki's personal dress-up doll during Host Club time. The day's activities had including dressing everyone as flowers with costumes that he personally designed. The only thing different this time, or at least that Haruhi noted as different or unusual, was that Kyoya-senpai did not smirk as he marked off her earning from her debt without adding additional debt. She felt that this instance was noteworthy for the simple fact that Kyoya-senpai, himself purchased the water that he handed her as they group cleaned up… well, as she cleaned up after club and the males involved observed. To the unknowing, that would be a simple act of kindness since she worked so hard to clean the room while others watched instead of helping, the rich brats that they were. But to Haruhi, it wasn't so simple. In fact it was such a complicated and complex action that she pondered it well into the night as she lay in bed trying to sleep. Lucky for her, there was no school tomorrow, so she would have a day to recover from the bags that were under her eyes due to the tossing and turning that was going on.

Once again, she heaved a heavy sigh, and rolled over, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in. But it wasn't her body that was uncomfortable, it was her mind. Such a simple act of kindness weighed heavy simply because of who had done it. Anyone else and she would have not had a second thought about it. But Kyoya-senpai wasn't the type to do ANYTHING without merit. For the life of her, she could not see the merit he gained by handing her something that albeit not expensive, cost him (or the club) money. _How stupid,_ she though as she rolled over again, _How could I let this bother me. It was nothing, surely. Right? Or was it? Did he intend to charge me for the water on Monday when we return to school? Could it be that one of our customers earlier had purchase the bottle but not opened it, so he was just keeping it from going to waste? If that's the case, why was it HIM of all people to hand it to me? I figured that Tamaki or, well, any of the other club members would have been the one to do such a thing. What merit was gained? UGHHH! Merit. Why is it, that the mere mention of that word is enough to drive me nuts? More importantly, why was it starting to bother me now, after all this time? What is it that makes me go bonkers when he talks of merit regarding me? _She eyed the window in her room. The birds were awakening and the earliest rays of light were peeping through the clouds. _How stupid of me! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! I allowed this to keep me up all throughout the night!_ She rolled over and covered her head. Sleep, albeit restless, finally fell, if only for a short while.

It was about noon when she finally arose and dressed for the day. She quickly determined what she would need for the meals of the day and headed out to the market. She almost walked away from her door without locking it because Ranka was home. A sudden chill down her spine as if someone or something of evil intent was nearby caused her to turn around and lock the door just in case. Her father was sleeping after a long night at work, after all. With the door securely locked, she turned back and made her way down the stairs. Something wasn't right. She felt it in her bones. None the less, she continued down the street to the market where she usually shops, greeting neighbors along the way. More than once, she stopped and looked around. It felt like she was being followed, but she could not see anything out of the ordinary. If she wasn't being followed, then what was this uneasy feeling she was having? She tried to put it aside and look for the best possible bargains. As she left the market, she was feeling almost giddy about her savings and the amount of food she was able to buy on the meager sum with which she had to do the grocery shopping. The feeling didn't last long, however. As she walked, she noticed that there was an unusual amount of traffic on the street today. Not something she normally noticed, however since her involvement with the Host Club members, she seemed to notice the luxury vehicles more than before. Limos were not something she usually saw in her neighborhood, that is, again, until her involvement with the club. However, when one trails behind you as you walk, it is fairly difficult to not notice everyone pointing and staring. Even if it is behind you, a stretch limo does not go unnoticed. No, not in that neighborhood. Nor did the excessive number of Town Cars that had been on the street as she made her way to the store in the first place.

This could only mean one thing… that one or more of the club members were involved in some scheme. She knew that she would be the center of attention soon, but when were they going to drop the bomb on her. Yes, she knew that she would not have her day alone today, but she didn't know when she would lose her precious time alone. They were unpredictable as always, and involved her in their adventures of fancy much more than she took a liking to. Oddly enough, she made it all the way to the door and was in middle of unlocking it when she heard her father talking just inside the door. She was pondering why the club member who had been following her had not jumped out and offered to carry the bags. They were heavy, but she was used to it. Still it seemed odd for one of the boys she spent her free time with to not come to her aid. She slide off her shoes and entered as Ranka hung up the phone. "I'm home" she stated. Her greeting was met with silence. "Dad? Is everything ok?"

"Haruhi, how much do you love your daddy?" Ranka asked, with a tone that sounded more like Tamaki than her actual father. Before she could reply, he turned to face her. Tears streaming down his pained face, unlike anything she has seen before. No, that was wrong. There was once that she had seen him this distraught, but her memories of her mother's passing had faded with time. As her mind raced trying to find the memory of the last time she had seen her father looking that way, she dropped the bags she was carrying and moved towards her father. "What's wrong? Did something happen? Dad?" she queried but got no answer.

Ranka was sobbing uncontrollably, his face in his hands. "Pr-promise me, th-that i-if anything (hic) happens t-to me… promise m-me th-that y-y-you w-w-w…." he broke off and a wail, unable to finish his sentence.

"Nothing is going to happen to you dad. Calm down, please. It will be ok. What do you want me to promise?" She asked with her arm resting reassuringly on her father's back as he threw his sobbing face onto her shoulder. After many minutes of reassuring him, Ranka finally calmed down enough to try to continue what he was trying to say.

"Promise me that you will find a way to go on and follow whatever dreams you have. See them to the end. Promise me that!" Ranka said with such a serious face that it scared Haruhi. She had never seen her father like this. His carefree, life-loving attitude thrown aside for a much darker side to her father than she ever knew existed. Her father had always been carefree and a little self-indulgent, maybe even a little childish at times. Dealing with him on a daily basis had made it easy for her to step into her role at the club, but this… This was something different. Even Tamaki at his darkest, just prior to Hani- and Mori-Senpai graduation, had never given such an ominous yet depressing aura.

_That's it! I can't stand this, _she thought as she looked at her pleading father. "Just what is going on? What is this all about, dad?" She asked with a little more force than she intended. He was not forthcoming with information. "Whatever is going on, we can get through this together, Dad. We always do. Just tell me what is happening."

Before he could answer, there was a knock at the door. Haruhi turned to answer it, but her father grabbed her arms and tightly hugged her in the mother of all bear hugs. "Fujioka Haruhi, listen to me. Do as your father asks. Don't question, just follow my instructions. Go to your room and do not come out until I'm gone. Don't look for me or try to find me. Do not tell anyone what is going on. Do not, I repeat, do not go to my work. I have someone looking after it for me, and they will drop off money for your living expenses. The rent will be paid, so don't worry about that. I don't know how long I will be gone, or when I am coming back. Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself. Look after yourself, and make sure you keep on top of your studies. You still want to be a lawyer, right? Don't let anything stand in your way. I will be back, but I don't know when. Please be a good girl and go quietly into your room now. Don't make a sound and don't talk to strangers from now on. "Ranka said all of this, with tears in his eyes.

Haruhi started to protest, but before she could get a word out, Ranka continued, "I repeat, do not make a single sound until I have left, and do not try to look for me. I will return to you, my baby girl. I have to. You are my reason for existing, so don't lose hope in me. Now go, and I am serious. DO NOT MAKE A SOUND UNTILL YOU ARE SURE THAT I HAVE BEEN DRIVEN AWAY! Go to your room now." He father pushed Haruhi into her room and slide the door shut. She slide down there, pressed against the door, listening. She wanted to run out to stop what ever was going on, to save her father. She knew, however, that she would be no match for whatever was happening, even though she did not know what it was that was going on. Ranka and the man who was on the other side of the front door spoke in whispers. Ranka gathered a few things and left, locking the door behind him. Haruhi would not disobey her father. He had his reasons for telling her what he did. She only hoped that he would return soon and tell her what they were.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

**Chapter Two**

Haruhi blinked. It was nearing twilight. She had fallen asleep sobbing to herself, still sitting by her bedroom door. She got up and made herself supper, not knowing when to expect her father home. She had no desire to eat, but had not had anything all day. As she ate, her mind ran through the events of the last 24… no 30 hours. It's almost as if Kyoya -Senpai being nice to her as a forewarning or even the start of bad events. She broke down weeping again. Why would her father say the things that he did? Why did he make it sound like he wasn't coming back? Where was he, and why was he taken away by someone? Too many questions came to her mind. She was jolted back by the phone ringing.

Concerned that her father might be trying to call her, she quickly jumped at the phone and answered with "Dad, is that you?"

"No, silly, it's not Tono, it's us." She heard Hikaru's familiar voice on the other end of the line. "Why would Tono call you? Err and since when did you start calling him Dad?" Kaoru piped in, "I thought Tono was the only idiot that wanted you to call him Father."

Haruhi broke down. Her crying was making it nearly impossible for the twins to understand her. What they did understand was that Ranka was not home, and Haruhi was alone. Hikaru's soothing voice kept talking to Haruhi even though she was sure she heard what sounded like Kaoru's voice frantically speaking in the background to someone else… several someone else's in fact. She listened to Hikaru as he tried to calm her nerves, stating that Ranka would never leave her for long. And if he did, they would be there to adopt her because "that no good father" didn't deserve her after-all. She had finally stopped sobbing when Hikaru told her to open her front door. She went to the door, with Hikaru still on the line, and hesitantly opened the door. In front of her was the entire Host Club. On seeing that everyone had gathered for her, she broke down crying again.

Hikaru snapped his cell phone shut and took her phone from her, Tamaki grabbed one of her hands, while Huni-Senpai grabbed the other and they led her back into her house and made her sit down. Between the sobs, she told them what had taken place this afternoon as she returned from the market. That had reminded her; she asked if any of them had been following her to and from the market today. She was sure that whoever was in the limo had been following her. And she stated that she was quite surprised when no one got out and offer to help carry the bags. They each, in turn, denied following her. "In fact, if it weren't for the fact that we forgot to write down our homework assignment for tomorrow, we wouldn't have even bothered you today," replied Kaoru as he was the last to answer to her query.

Quietly, in the background, Kyoya-senpai took out a PDA and started to take notes. Without his normal laptop, he was reduced to other means. Shortly after sliding the PDA back into his pocket, he made a use of his cell phone. No one took notice because, well, it was Kyoya-senpai after all. This is what he did… even in the face of their mutual friend and faux-family member being in such pain.

The twins and Tamaki tried to convince Haruhi to come to their respective mansions, but to no avail. She would not hear of it, as she needed to be home in case her father showed back up. Upon hearing that she would stay home alone, Kyoya-senpai once again, picked up his cell phone and made another call. As they all left that evening, they could not help but understand the feeling of being watched. The twins considered turning around and staying with Haruhi for the evening, but Kyoya-senpai simply nodded towards the shadows and said "Good night" to which a reply came "Good Night Young Master, I will be on alert all night as ordered." The twins looked at Kyoya-senpai in shock. Had he really put a guard in place for Haruhi?

As everyone got into their respective limos, the twins were deep in discussion. They could not decide if putting a guard for their friend was a Kyoya-senpai-like behavior or not. After all, what was the merit to be gained? But then again, everyone at the Host Club loved and adored Haruhi, and it was killing each and every one of them to see her hurting as she was. Yet, still, where was the profit in paying for a guard? What would he gain? They were so heatedly discussing the matter that they were home before they even realized. Kaoru called Tamaki to get his take on things, as he was the Shadow King's best friend. Maybe he would have better insight. No such luck, even he had no idea what Kyoya-senpai had in mind.

The next morning, Haruhi made every attempt to proceed with the day as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She made breakfast and then made her way to school. The homework that had sparked the twins' call to Haruhi the night before had completely been forgotten. As she walked into the class, they were frantically working to get it done before class. However homework was completely forgotten again when they laid eyes on Haruhi, quizzing her about how she slept and if she had heard from Ranka yet. Tears welled up in her eyes and her voice caught in her throat, so she just shook her head. They understood and did not pressure her again.

Instead of Club activities, the twins escorted Haruhi to the school nurses office to lie down and rest for a while. When they told the club members of where they had left her, each took a turn to go check on her throughout activity time, explaining to their guests that their fellow club member was not doing well, and they were concerned. When the twins' guests had a questioning look on their faces, the boys started in saying that despite the fact that no one could ever take the place of the other, the club members were as close as you could get to family. Thus their concern for Haruhi was warranted and deserved. After the guests all left, all the boys made their way to the nurses office. Haruhi had just woken up and felt a little bit better.

Huni-senpai grabbed her hand and offered her a ride instead of her taking the train. She accepted, much to the relief of the others. No one wanted to see her alone and in public for long. As Huni-senpai, Mori-senpai, and Haruhi headed towards the limo, the other club members saw something very uncharacteristic of one of their own. Mori-senpai, instead of walking behind Huni-senpai, stepped around to Haruhi's side and grabbed her other hand. The three walked hand in hand to the limo. Although seeing Huni-senpai holding Haruhi's hand seemed very natural, there was a twinge of jealousy from more than one of the other members as they watch Haruhi attempt a smile up at Mori-senpai when he grabbed her hand.

When they arrived at Haruhi's home, Huni-senpai climbed out of the limo, and received a rather quizzical look from Mori-senpai. "Of course I am not going to just drop her off after what happened the other day. Come on. We at least need to make sure that everything is ok and that there aren't any surprises waiting on her inside." With that, Mori-senpai needed no further encouragement to exit the limo. The three of them made their way to her front door, but she paused before unlocking it. Haruhi turned to Huni-senpai and told him that she didn't have any cakes or sweets for him. The look she got for that comment was one she had never seen from that senpai before. There was a harshness that made her cringe. "I know that I have the reputation of being childlike, innocent, and a bit of a shota/lolli, but I am also 18 yrs old, and male. I am a man that would never allow someone who he cares for to enter a possibly dangerous situation without a second thought. Haru-chan, the club members all care for you dearly. This is killing us that there is little that we can do for you. We each, in our own way, are looking for your father and what may have happened to him. My investigators have found nothing to go on. At least let me check out your house before you enter, to make sure that whoever took Ranka has not returned for you. Let me act like the man that I am instead of the Host that you usually see me as. Please."

"You don't get a choice in this matter, Haruhi-chan. I can't speak for anyone except myself, but I can tell you that you are a very important person to me, and it seems to Mitsukuni as well. If he asks me to, I would lay down my life to protect you… for that matter, if you asked me to, I would do it as gladly. Although, in theory, that would go against my pledge to protect Mitsukuni, I would still do so with a smile on my face. I just… umm, well I know that Kyoya-kun's forces are guarding your home while your at school and are also currently acting as your personal bodyguards as well, although they stay out of sight pretty well. We gave you a ride home, so we knew that you were safe during that time. But if Mitsukuni says that he wants to personally check out your house, then I guess we're going to check it out for you. Just keep this in mind, if we didn't care for you, Mitsukuni would have dropped you off without a second though… or rather, not even bothered to offer you a ride. Please just let us do what we can to protect you. Please." Mori-senpai also had a look on his face that Haruhi had never seen from him… he was begging her. He had also taken both of her hands into his, as if to say "trust us to do this little thing for you." The normally silent, stoic man, who barely spoke more than 3 or 4 words at a time, was pleading with her for the right to protect her. She felt like she had no other choice but to follow them. When she replied "OK", Mori-senpai reached up and instead of the normal tussling of her hair, this time he stroked her hair and pulled her against his chest. Then he bent down, ever so slightly to whisper into her ear, "Thank you."

She followed them to her front door and allowed them to search her home for intruders. She offered tea, but Huni-senpai declined as he informed her that they wouldn't be staying, they just wanted to make sure that she would be ok. Huni-senpai glomped onto Haruhi and then turned to leave. Mori-senpai also approached her and once again stroked her hair as he pulled her head against his chest and this time, placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. Haruhi stood there with her hand on her forehead as the front door closed, still in shock from the actions and words of both men.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously, in chapter two… they just wanted to make sure that she would be ok. Huni-senpai glomped onto Haruhi and then turned to leave. Mori-senpai also approached her and once again stroked her hair as he pulled her head against his chest and this time, placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. Haruhi stood there with her hand on her forehead as the front door closed, still in shock from the actions and words of both men.

**Chapter Three**

Men. That term sounded weird as it rattled around her head, especially when referring to the members of the Host club. But indeed, Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai were both due to graduate, and were already 18 years old. Still standing there, with her hands now having fallen to her side, Haruhi wondered when the cute little Huni-senpai and turned into such a strong man with and even stronger will. The phone startled her back to reality. She answered the phone to hear Tamaki's voice, calling to check up on her. She reassured him that everything was fine, and that the senpais had just left after thoroughly checking on her home. She repeatedly instructed him to NOT make attempts to come over. Before she hung up, she thanked Tamaki for checking on her and assured him that if anything happened… if the wind so much as blew the wrong way even, she would call him first, without fail. A faint smile flicked across her lips as she said it, because only Tamaki would fall for such a line. Of course, any normal person would want her to call the authorities. No sooner than she laid the phone in the cradle than it started ringing again. This time it was the twins who she had to reassure that she was fine and nothing had happened. As with Tamaki, she assured the boys that the Host Club members would be the first ones she called if anything happened to her. Kaoru was not happy with that. He wanted her promise that he and his brother would be the absolute first person that she called. Not willing to make a promise that she didn't think that she could keep, Haruhi wormed her way around without ever really answering the promise. Luckily, both of the twins were so frantically trying to convince Haruhi to move into their mansion until this blew over, that they missed the fact that she never promised them anything.

She started to make herself something for supper but found that she was missing important items. As she put her shoes one and started for the market, she caught a glimpse of the bodyguard that Kyoya-senpai left to protect her. Yes, she knew that if nothing else, she was cared for and protected by the members of the Host Club. Each in their own way, but none the less, they all showed it when she needed the support the most. The trip to the market was, other than seeing the bodyguard, uneventful. After preparing and eating supper, she cleaned the house, did her homework, bathed and prepared for bed as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She behaved as if Ranka was merely at work overnight instead of missing. She behaved that way, until she crawled into bed. Her mind raced and the events of the day he was taken played over and over again in her mind. Her sleep was fitful at best.

The next morning, as she had the morning prior, she continued to behave as if everything was fine. The only tell-tale sign being the increasing bags under her eyes. This morning, however, Tamaki showed up at her door as she was heading out to school. He informed her that he had no choice but to ride to school with "daddy". She tried to smile, because she knew that she could not admonish him for the whole "daddy" thing that he had going, but for once she wished he wouldn't refer to himself as her father. The thought that her true father was missing was causing pain, but Tamaki was only trying to help her, he didn't mean to hurt her with his little game.

Things continued on much as they had before… at least the outward appearance. Tamaki, the twins, and Huni/Mori Senpai combo all rotated as to who was going to pick Haruhi up in the mornings and who was taking her home at night. On weekends, she was drug out to one mansion or the other where most of the Host Club members would gather to keep her busy for the weekend. She hated being away from the phone in case her father tried to contact her, but she knew she needed to try to move on. Ranka had taken care of her in the way he knew how to, by making sure that somehow her rent was paid and there was money for food. Not that the boys would allow her to buy any food if they could help it. Usually, whoever drove her home after school, somehow always seemed to manage to convince Haruhi to dine with them. If she hadn't been going through a rough time emotionally, she might have even noticed that Kyoya-senpai was no longer adding the little expenses to her debt. She did notice that the rest of the club members were being exceptionally nice to her, but for what-ever reason, Kyoya-senpai's change went unnoticed by her. Club activities went on as usual, and Haruhi put on her fake smile. She felt that she couldn't smile her same natural smile anymore, but had learned over time how to imitate the other host's "business smile". It went against Haruhi's nature to be so fake but she couldn't let on what was going on, for fear that there would be repercussions.

Day after day, week after week this situation drug on. The seasons changed, and then changed again. Before anyone realized it, 6 months had passed. Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai had graduated, but were still coming to the Host Club as they were currently attending the college that was associated with Ouran High School. Kyoya and Tamaki were already preparing for graduation that was coming up in a half of a year. School and Club activities had continued on. However, Haruhi's mood never bounced back to how she was before her father disappeared. Try as they might, the other club members could not break through the shell that she had built around her heart. They missed her smile, and quite frankly of only seeing her meager half smiles being forced across her face. Finally the day came… he had had enough!

All the male members of the club were heatedly discussing something when Haruhi walked in. She had been a little late due to having to return an overdue library book, so she rushed in to prepare for the guests. As she opened the door to the room, the boys fell silent. Haruhi instantly went to the kitchen to start preparation, when Huni-senpai called her over. She walked over to the ring of young men who had resumed speaking in hushed tones as she had been in the kitchen. All eyes were on her. "Yes, Huni-senpai? Did you need something?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter three… Haruhi instantly went to the kitchen to start preparation, when Huni-senpai called her over. She walked over to the ring of young men who had resumed speaking in hushed tones as she had been in the kitchen. All eyes were on her. "Yes, Huni-senpai? Did you need something?"

**Chapter Four**

"Haru-chan, we're worried about you. It's just us for now, and we're not opening the club to guests today because we feel we need to… well take care of internal business, I guess you could say. Would you join us and please sit down." Huni-senpai smiled at her as Kyoya pulled another chair into their circle. Haruhi sat unsure of what this feeling was that she was having. She had allowed herself to become numb to feelings over the last half year, so it was hard to put a label on the butterflies she was having. She looked around the circle from left to right. Kaoru and Hikaru were sharing an overstuffed loveseat, dearly hugging onto one another as if their life depended on it. Then sat Tamaki, Huni-senpai, and Mori-senpai on the couch across the way from her, and finally to her right sat Kyoya with his ever present laptop and cell phone. Everyone's eyes were on Haruhi, with the exception of the pair of eyes on his laptop.

Tamaki spoke up next. "Haruhi, the only ones who know about what you have been going through are the ones in this room right now. Since we all feel like we are family, we have all tried what we could to help you through this. Please don't forget that we ALL care about you. I mean, really care. Not about your debt or merit to the club," as he shot a glance over towards Kyoya. "Your ability to make wonderful cakes, nor how wonderful you look in the designs of club members or their parents' line of clothes," Tamaki looked from Huni-senpai to the twins. "Haruhi, what we care about is you, and as someone that we all care about, we think it's time that you started to care about yourself as well. It's obvious that you don't sleep at night, your grades are slipping, and one of the worst things is that… we miss your smile. Not your business smile, the true Haruhi smile that could light up the room. The one that made girls fall in love with you even though underneath your male pretense your female as well… the one that made each of us fall in love with you as well in our own way. Ehem, some of us more than others." Tamaki actually started to blush as he said that.

"We're all family here. Some of us are brothers," starts Hikaru, but Kaoru finished his sentence as usual, "others are cousins." Both brothers look over at the cousin senpais, Huni and Mori. "But it doesn't matter if there is a blood relation or not, because we, all of us here, are family," continued Kaoru. "And that includes you, our lovely Haruhi," said both brothers in unison. Continuing, "We can't take the place of your biological father." Both brothers cast an accusatory glance at Tamaki and then went on, "but we want you to know that we are your family, in lieu of any other family you may have."

Tamaki picked up the conversation again, "As your family, we are going to look after you. I have arranged for a special scholarship to be created specifically for you. We all have pitched in to help fund it. Since you already have the scholarship for high school, the new one will cover you for your entire 4 years at the collage affiliated with our high school. Your dream is to be a lawyer, right? It is our way of making sure that you can follow that dream. It's what Ranka would have wanted… what he wants for you, right? For you to follow your dreams. We can't take his place, and we can't make you smile the way his return would, but we can try to help in the ways that are available to us. This is one of those ways. Haruhi… please…" Tamaki's voice cracked and he started to sob.

At that moment, Kyoya's cell phone rings. He grabs it immediately and instantly demands, "You know better than to call me when I'm at Club activities... What?...Where?... And what did you find?" Kyoya got up and made his way across the room to continue his talk in private.

Huni-senpai spoke this time, "Haru-chan, I think what Tama-Chan is trying to say here is that we really want to see the real you give us a real smile again. You're here, but you're not. We miss you as much as you miss Ranka, or maybe even more because we see you daily, but you're not really here at the same time."

Kaoru added, "You're a shell of the girl you used to be."

Mori-senpai finally spoke up and said, "Uhn, like your spirit has escaped."

The other four hosts still sitting there nod their agreements with these last few statements. Haruhi, who had been sitting silently this whole time, looking down at her knees, finally looked up at her companions. Tears were falling. Tamaki looked at Haruhi's face and started to freak out. Mori-senpai, however, after seeing her face, stood up, walked over to Haruhi, and lifted her into his arm, burying her head into his chest while carrying her princess style back to his seat. He just held her as Huni-senpai stroked her hair while she cried. The twins, albeit would have rather been comforting Haruhi, were calming Tamaki down from his hysterics at seeing Haruhi cry. Once Tamaki calmed down, he and the twins also gathered around the seated Mori and Haruhi and also tried to comfort their friend. Once she calmed down, she was sent to the restroom to splash cold water on her face and freshen up, she passed Kyoya on her way out. Reaching the others, he said, "OK guys, before Haruhi comes back, I have to talk to you. It's urgent. Listen up…" He couldn't believe the timing. Here they were talking to Haruhi about returning to her old self and moving on, when he gets this kind of news.

When Haruhi returned, something felt off. And, Kyoya was no longer there. It was odd, but Haruhi couldn't put her finger on it… what was it that felt so very out of place and off center? Not that she had a lot of happy go lucky feelings in her heart right now, but she felt even worse seeing that Kyoya was not there anymore, nor had he said anything during the groups talk to her.

Tamaki informed her that Kyoya had to go tend to some business that urgently came up. Huni-senpai offered her cakes while the twins offered tea or coffee. None of which she took. They settled back down and were going to try to continue to talk to her about their concerns when she finally spoke. "You guys aren't just LIKE my family… YOU ARE my family. Even before Dad… left. Dad, too, but he obviously hasn't been around lately. I know that I haven't been myself since he disappeared, and you all have been so very patient with me. You allow me breaks from customers even when you aren't taking them yourselves; you don't allow me to suffer being home alone and cooking for only one; and you ply my every waking moment so that I don't have to think about what is keeping me so down. You have been living FOR me, since it almost feels like I have given up on life myself. I haven't, but you know what I am getting at, right? The six of you are the reason I get up in the morning… " a slight hint of a smile crosses Haruhi's lips, "…if I don't, I know very well that one, no, more, if not all of you, will be at my door demanding that I get motivated. I know this. And I am eternally grateful for it." She sighed a heavy sigh. It was hard for her to put all of this into words, despite how blunt and straightforward she usually was. She knew that her friends… no, they were her family, and they were very worried about her. They showed it in everything they did for her. There was no way that, even if she wanted to, she could deny that they were worried and cared for her. However, they just couldn't replace her father, who had spent more than 10 years trying to be both father and mother to her. He may be a royal pain in the butt, but he had always tried to be there for her, and she loved him. "I will try my best to pull myself out of this slump that I have been having. For you guys, I will try my best. Just give me time, though, ok? This is still hard on me. I don't know if he is even still alive. I just don't know. I just…" Haruhi slumped down into her chair and started to weep again.

Once again, everyone gathered around her trying to console her. Between the sobs, she tells them, "I've been so numb…n-n-not r-r-really feel-ling anything. I allow you all to *hic* keep me so b-busy, that I don't allow myself time to think about it. I-I'm really sorry. I'm crying again." Haruhi, again, made her way to the restroom to freshen up. When she returned this time, only Tamaki and the twins were left. Tamaki informed her that Huni and Mori had left for the day, but the twins and himself were going to take her out to eat dinner, and then they were all going back to the twins' house for a sleep-over. Haruhi knew that this meant that she would be the twins' dress-up doll and Tamaki would also join in on the fun. She could yet again, allow herself to not thing about anything at all. She relished this idea right now.

Of course, Tamaki took them to the most lavish restaurant, and midway through the meal, Huni and Mori showed up to join them. She didn't want to admit it but when it's just Tamaki and the twins, it gets more than a bit tiring, however when everyone is all together, it is actually energizing. Another thing that she didn't really want to admit right then, is that she felt a twinge of disappointment that one member was missing. There was no way that she would ever say that out loud, though. Plus, he had disappeared earlier when the group and sat her down to talk to her. Haruhi couldn't put a finger on exactly the feeling that it was giving her, but she knew that it wasn't pleasant. She also knew that she couldn't talk about it to anyone; she didn't think that they would understand since she didn't understand herself. Haruhi shook her head in order to clear those thoughts, and then looked around hoping that no one saw her do so. Everyone was engrossed in the discussion and did not see. Thank heavens for small favors.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter four… Haruhi shook her head in order to clear those thoughts, and then looked around hoping that no one saw her do so. Everyone was engrossed in the discussion and did not see. Thank heavens for small favors.

**Chapter Five**

The evening progressed as the weekends usually do, with everyone doing what ever was necessary to keep Haruhi from feeling alone or having time to think. That night, after everyone else was asleep, Haruhi got up from her futon. Not able to sleep, she pulled out a spare notebook that was in her bag and sat at the table on the boys' balcony. Not real sure what she wanted to write about, she put her pen to the paper and the ink just seemed to flow. With no conscience effort, she filled page after page. It was slightly after midnight when she made her way outside, but when she looked up, the sun was peeking over the garden and the five hosts who she had kept company the night prior were all sitting at the table staring at her. Huni-senpai was munching away on the sweet roll that had been placed in front of him by the maid, who Haruhi had not even heard as she asked everyone they wanted her to serve for breakfast. She jumped a little. "Waaa! When did you all get up? What time is it? How come no one said anything to me?"

"Haru-chan, each of us asked you if you were ok when he woke up. You never said a word, and just kept on writing. I was afraid that Neko-chan had stolen in here in the middle of the night and put you under some kind of trance or something." Huni-senpai stated as everyone else nodded in agreement. "You were definitely in your own little world. What were you writing about?"

Haruhi just stared at Huni-senpai with a very blank look on her face. "Huh? Oh! Umm, I don't know actually. I couldn't sleep last night, so I got up and grabbed the notebook at about midnight. I sat down, put the pen to the paper and then the next thing I see you all staring at me and the sun is up." Haruhi tucked the notebook beside her and took the sweet roll that Huni-senpai was silently offering her. Nothing more was said about the notebook. The day was the same old routine as every weekend since Ranka disappeared. The boys kept Haruhi busy so that she didn't have time to worry about anything, they took care of her every need… except that of returning her father to her safe and sound. That was the one thing that they tried to do, but failed at. No one had any news, no leads could be found. While Haruhi bathed, the boys discussed what their investigators had found, but nothing new had come up. Tamaki, however, told his comrades one interesting piece of information. He explained that Kyoya was not present because his investigators DID find something out, but Kyoya would not tell him what it was.

As usual, Sunday night, the twins returned Haruhi to her home, following her in to make sure nothing unusual happened. As they prepared to leave, Haruhi looked at first one and then the other, she gave each one a peck on the cheek, and said, "You don't have to search the house anymore, nor do you have to give me a ride to school. It's been long enough. I don't think that anything is going to happen to me. What ever the mess that my dad was involved is either resolved, or he managed to not drag me into it. I know that saying this isn't enough, but thank you."

As always, in synch, the twins both let out a heavy sigh. "Haruhi, we search the house to make US feel better, not you." Hikaru explained. His younger twin added, "And dammit if we thought that we could, we would pack all of your belongings and take you home with us." Hikaru once again spoke and added, "well we could, but we would have to tie you up and as soon as you were untied, I imagine that you would grab your stuff and come right back over here… thus making our attempts futile."

Haruhi had to chuckle a little when she heard that. She kissed both brothers on the cheek once again, and said "I love both of you! I don't know what I would have done up until now without you."

Both brothers smiled, but Hikaru was the first one to say anything as he smacked his brother on the back, "Did you hear that Kaoru? She loves me! She can't live without me!" To which came the reply, "Both, she said both of us. She loves both of us! Not just you, me too." This banter when on all the way back to their limo. Haruhi just watched, a faint smile playing across her lips. That's the closest she's come to actually smiling in months. With friends who love her as much as the Host club members do, she just might survive yet.

With the twins gone, and they made sure that they fed her before dropping her off, it's time to do homework and then bathe and bed. Opening her school bag, Haruhi finds not only her homework, but the notebook that she spent all night writing in. Curious, but resolved to do her homework, Haruhi puts the notebook aside and sets about the task of homework, then bathes and soaks in the tub for a very long time. As she exits the tub, she realizes that she as only been showering for a really long time due to the rationalization that since her dad was not there to also use the bath-water, it would be a waste. She had missed taking nice long baths at home. It dawned on her that, in fact, she had not taken a bath at home since her dad disappeared, but instead only showered at home and took her bath when at on of the other host's homes on the weekend. Maybe it was a luxury that she had not allowed herself to have, or maybe she was punishing herself for not being able to do more for her father. Either way, she had missed it.

As Haruhi made her way to her room to go to bed, she saw the notebook once again. It beckoned her. She picked it up and started to read. She honestly did not remember what she had written in the notebook, at all. But as she read, it all came back to her. She started with explaining in detail the oddities and events the night prior to Ranka's disappearance. Then in great detail she elaborated on everything that she saw and heard the day of the disappearance. She noted that although she knew that the two days events were not related (meaning Kyoya's handing of water and Ranka's disappearance) but that they were both relatively major events at the moment they happened. She log chronicled the events and findings that occurred to her in regards to both her everyday life and her friends' investigators attempts to find her father. The last note in the notebook was, "If and when we find dad, I will be able to share all the events that meant something to me that took place while he was gone… and if I don't find him, then at least I have a written memory to read to mother at her grave the next time I visit. I pray that I don't find that I have to place father there when we find him." She wasn't quite sure why, but suddenly she could not stop the tears from falling. She crawled into bed and wept until she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter four… She wasn't quite sure why, but suddenly she could not stop the tears from falling. She crawled into bed and wept until she fell asleep.

**Chapter Six**

Amazing, Haruhi woke up that Monday morning completely refreshed and revived. Ready to attempt to move on, as her friends were hoping for her to do. She got ready for and started making her way to school when Tamaki picked her up. She knew better than to argue that she had really wanted to take the train today, because Tamaki would have no part of it. He would have his bodyguards pick her up and carry her to the limo if she didn't get in willingly. The rest of the day seemed fairly normal, except for the fact that both twins were gently caressing their own cheek where Haruhi had kissed them the day before. That, and when they got to the club, Kyoya was no were to be found. Tamaki reported that Kyoya had business to attend to, and would not be at school for a while, maybe several days up to a week. Haruhi wondered if it was the same business that took him out of the group's talk with her two days prior. He had just up and left with no word to her about anything. She felt a little let down, but figured that was due to the fact that he usually ran interference for her when Tamaki and the twins were overwhelming her. She chuckled to herself, "well at least if he isn't here, he can't add to my debt" she thought. "Wait, add to my debt? He hasn't done that in a while, has he? Hmm No, it… was… when was the last time he added to my debt?" Haruhi pondered this for a while. When the truth hit her, she stood upright with a jolt, startling her guests that she was accompanying at the moment. "He hasn't added any debt since before he gave me the water bottle, the day before dad left!" Haruhi screamed inside her head, but luckily her voice was silent. Her eyes widened and all color left her face. Haruhi's knees became weak and her head spun. She had, of course, the attention of every member of the club, as well as that of most all the guests. Now normally, the shadow king himself would escort Haruhi away from the guests while the other hosts continued to tend to their own guests, but with Kyoya-senpai gone, and with everything that had happened to Haruhi in the past half year, chaos ensued. Tamaki, albeit normally able to focus on his guests no matter what is going on around him, instantly jumped up and ran to Haruhi, as did the twins. Huni-senpai offered her his sweets. Mori-senpai, however, became the voice of reason since Kyoya was gone. "Go back to your guests, and Tamaki, would you please also entertain Haruhi-kun's guests as well?" he asked in a slightly louder than normal voice as he hoisted Haruhi over his shoulder and carried her out of the room. Tamaki, always the gentleman, entertained the ladies at both tables as Huni entertained the ladies Mori had previously been keeping company.

Mori-senpai set Haruhi down gently after they were far enough away from the club room that he was sure that no one was following them. "Are you ok?" he asked, since her knees did not look like they would hold her. As her knees did give out, Mori grabbed her gently and slowed her decent to the floor. He picked her back up and made his way to a bench in the garden. She sat there for a bit as Mori-senpai went back inside and got her a moist towel for her forehead. Returning, he placed the towel on her forehead and sat down next to her when his arm around her shoulders. They were not in the view of the club room, and most others at the school were either gone or involved in activities that kept them busy, so Mori knew that they were safe here. They sat there as Haruhi rested her head back on Mori-senpai's arm for a few minutes before she lifted her head, removed the towel, and looked at her companion. "Shouldn't you be with your guests?" she asked.

"Uhn," he grunted in agreement, "but… something more important came up."

"It's a good think Kyoya-senpai isn't here. I don't think that he would see it that way, and he would defiantly add this to my debt."

"But, he's not. Are you better now?"

"Yes, thank you. It's just been a … well, a really weird weekend. My mind is still trying to catch up. I know that everyone is trying to help me, and trying to take care of me. I am grateful. I truly am. But…" her voice trailed off as if afraid of offending her companion.

"But?"

"But everyone's kindness does not take the place of my father's arms around me, hugging me before I go to bed at night. I know that Tamaki and the twins would hug me until I am squished flatter than a pancake if I asked them to. Heck, I might not even be able to get them to let me go if I got stupid enough to ask for the hug in the first place. But it's not the same reassurance that I get from dad. He may be a fruit-cake… but he's MY fruit-cake. I want to be able to go to him with questions about… well, about life I guess. Things that I don't know, but probably should have been interested in long ago. I have questions that most normal girls would have gone to their mothers with, but for over ten years now, I haven't had a mother, all I have had is Ranka. He has been both mother and father to me. I know that if I have questions, I could go to him and he would help me to the best of his abilities. Even if he doesn't seem interested in male/female relationships anymore." She chuckled a pitiful little chuckle with that last statement. Haruhi knew full well that her father would suggest that she wait until she was 30 before getting involved with boys. He wouldn't want his baby girl growing up too fast. But she also knew that he would still listen to her and try to help as best as he could.

Before she knew it, Haruhi was pulled into a hug by her silent partner. He held her as she let go and her tears fell. She was exhausted, but felt safe in Mori's arms, wondering if her tears would ever dry up. She had cried more in the last few days than she had in what seemed like forever. When it seemed as she had stopped crying, but before he let her out of the hug, he bent down and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and said, "I can listen if you need to talk."

"Senpai, do you have a girlfriend?"

"No"

"Do you have someone that you like?"

"Yes, but… she is out of reach."

"Out of reach? What do you mean?"

"Ehh, like an idol or star, of sorts. Everyone sweetheart, no one can claim her as their own."

"She must be special."

"She is."

"So why don't you tell her?"

"She wouldn't believe me if I did."

"Why not?"

"She doesn't know how special she is, and to how many people she is special to. She thinks that she is just an ordinary girl. … But… she couldn't be more wrong." A slight smile crossed Mori's lips, but Haruhi did not see it, her head was still buried in his chest.

"Would she, maybe, get jealous if she saw me like this?"

Mori just shrugged his shoulders.

"She should be." And with that, Haruhi stood up, bent over and kissed Mori on the cheek, then nearly whispering into his ear, "Because you will get snatched up if you ever put yourself out there seriously. You're too good to pass up." She straightened up and asked, "Shall we go back? After I stop by the restroom to wash my face, that is."

"I'll be right there," he said as she made her way back inside and to the restroom. Mori waited for a moment for the blush to leave his cheeks. He didn't want her to see his reaction, because after-all, she did believe that she was just an ordinary girl, right? And he also didn't want Tamaki or the twins to see his reaction either. If they knew to what extent he cared for her, it would make them all step up their game, and he really didn't want to see that. To himself, or maybe to the gods, he whispered a little too loudly, "Why would 'she' be jealous, when you are the 'she' in question, my dear sweet Haruhi?"

Hidden a few feet away from the doorway to the garden, a dark figure had overheard it all. This person had followed them out there, for as they were attempting to make their way to the club room, they saw Haruhi being carried away. "Etu Brute? First Tamaki, then the Hitachiin twins, now Mori? If I didn't know that Huni had an arranged marriage fiancée, I would believe that the entire Host club had fallen in love with her. This kid must really be something special. I hope that she is really worth it, because when Father finds out… "

With a deep sigh, Mori made his way inside and waited by the girl's bathroom for Haruhi to come out, before they proceeded back to the club room together. Not really wanting his extremely precious time with her to end, he placed his hand on her shoulder and slowed her pace down a little. "Are you ready to go back in?"

"No, but I wasn't ready for dad to disappear. I wasn't ready for mom to die. Sometimes it doesn't matter if I am ready or not. Life goes on."

"You don't have to go back in just yet."

"Yes I do. What if this gets reported to Kyoya-senpai? He'd add more to my debt, for sure. I am going to be working for this host club until I am one hundred and three."

Mori just smiled, "No I will take responsibility if he says anything."

Haruhi turned quickly, grabbed him around the waist, and hugged her senpai tightly. "Thank you" is what she said, as the words "That's what I should be saying to you" formed in his head, but he couldn't make the words come out. And, just as quickly as she hugged him, she let go, straightened her clothes, squared her shoulders, and marched right back into the room and rejoined her guests.

And, as quick as he had jumped up to rescue her from what-ever she had been feeling, she was gone again. Mori sighed and proceeded back into the room behind her, wondering if she even had a clue who he had been talking about. The rest of the day was business as usual, except that Kyoya was not there.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter six… And, as quick as he had jumped up to rescue her from what-ever she had been feeling, she was gone again. Mori sighed and proceeded back into the room behind her, wondering if she even had a clue who he had been talking about. The rest of the day was business as usual, except that Kyoya was not there.

**Chapter Seven**

The next day was the same as well. However, Wednesday evening, things changed. School and club were normal, with the noted exception of one club member still missing. Tamaki did not take Haruhi to dinner before taking her home that evening, in hopes of having her cook for him. When she got home, however, before Tamaki could even walk her to her door, Kyoya met them at the limo door. He offered Haruhi a hand as she climbed out, then immediately shut the door before Tamaki could climb out himself. Kyoya told Tamaki's driver to go ahead and take him home and that he would make sure Haruhi made it into her house safely. When Kyoya handed the driver 100000 yen to just leave, the man didn't think twice. Kyoya smirked as the limo drove away and Tamaki yelled out the window.

"Senpai, why did you do that? Now there will be hell to pay tomorrow when I get to the club room! Tamaki-senpai will NOT let me live it down that he didn't get to walk me to my house." Haruhi knew that the words she spoke were unfortunately true, and that Tamaki would admonish her tomorrow for "allowing" Kyoya to do what he did.

"Ehh, if you really want me to call him back, I will. But I figured that you would rather see your real father than the idiot who calls himself your 'daddy'. Am I wrong?" Kyoya said with a smirk on his face.

"My dad? You found my dad? Are you serious? Really? Talk to me!!! Dammit, say something!" Haruhi was now screaming at the top of her lungs and holding Kyoya by the shirt.

Kyoya simply lifted his arm and motioned for his limo to pull up and pick them up. But no matter what she said or asked, Kyoya sat quiet. No laptop, no cell phone, no notebook, just a smirk on his face. Throughout the 15 minute ride, she questioned him non-stop. As he said nothing, her voice would raise, trying to pry answers out of him. He simply put one finger up to her mouth as to tell her to hush. Finally, when she had given up trying to get answers from him, he handed her a bottle of water, "Surely your throat is dry from all the screaming you have been doing for the last 12 minutes."

With a frown on her face, she grumbled "Thanks" and drank the water. Unfortunately for her, doing so brought back memories of what happened the day before her father disappeared. Tears started to well up. Not sure what to think, because suddenly nothing makes sense, Haruhi starts to weep.

"Hey, save some of the water-works for after you meet the plane," Kyoya teases, but at the same time, he gently places his arm over her shoulders and hands her a handkerchief to dab her tears away.

"Plane? Please Senpai, I am begging you. Please tell me what is going on." Haruhi sobs. Even the Ice Shadow King surely couldn't refuse such a plea.

"I found Ranka. I made arrangements to take care of everything. He is currently on one of my jets, on his way here. I will give you more details, but only after I have spoken to Ranka, myself, personally. Don't worry, I won't interrupt you. It's been too long since you saw him last, and I would dream of stopping you. But before I take the two of you home, I do want to have a nice little conversation with him. It's entirely up to you if you want to join us, but it might be painful to hear some of what we discuss."

"Senpai, did you really keep your investigators looking for him this whole time?"

"Yes, those that weren't assigned to guard you were assigned to finding out what happened to your father."

"B-b-but, Senpai… where's the merit? What did you gain by doing this?" The thought of what he might answer scared the daylights out of her, but she needed to know. The need was overwhelming, since without hearing what he had to gain, she was imagining herself being sold into slavery, to work at his house as a slave for the rest of her natural life.

"Haruhi, can we discuss what merit I get from this later? It's not something that is immediate, and potentially none at all… but, well… although I don't usually invest in a long shot, I did this time. I just have to wait and see if it comes in for me or not. So, can we please discuss this some other time?" His eyes were almost begging for her to leave the subject alone for now. It was down-right scary.

For the rest of the way, they rode in silence. The arrived at the private air strip just as the Otori private jet was touching down. As it rolled to the hangar, Haruhi's stomach lurched in anticipation. Would she really get to see her father again? Would he have reasonable answers for the millions and billions of questions that were left unanswered? And why would Kyoya-senpai put so much effort into finding her father? It was time to find out. The hatch opened, the stairs dropped down, and someone was being lead from the plane in a hat, blind-fold, and handcuffs. Haruhi climbed out of the limo and slowly walked over to the person who had just disembarked from the plane. The handcuffs were unlocked, and the blind-fold removed. Ranka blinked momentarily, but when he saw his daughter standing there, he did the only thing he could, he ran and embraced her for all her worth. Wailing and begging for forgiveness, Ranka held on tight to his daughter.

Minutes passed before either opened their eyes, afraid that this was all just a dream. When he finally opened his eyes, Ranka, who was still hugging Haruhi so tight that he was afraid to break her, saw a rather familiar individual. An individual that he could only assume had a hand in his return to his daughter. As he watched the raven haired boy, often referred to as the shadow king amongst his daughters friends, push his glasses up, the lost father mouthed the words "thank you", never once letting go of what he deemed the most precious thing in the world.

Eventually, Haruhi released the death-grip that she had on her father, but still did not let go altogether. She held onto his hand the way she had held onto the hope that she would see him again. When all of her strength had seeped away, a voice behind her asked if the two of them would like to go get dinner. As if to answer, Haruhi's stomach growled. Ranka laughed and replied that it would be lovely since he wanted to talk to both of the teens at the same time.

Since, for the last 6 months, Kyoya had not been one of the ones who had taken Haruhi home in the evening, thus missing out on the chance to dine with her, he chose to spare no expense for tonight's homecoming dinner for Haruhi's father. On the way to the restaurant, they stopped and purchased appropriate dining apparel for both Haruhi and Ranka.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter seven… Since, for the last 6 months, Kyoya had not been one of the ones who had taken Haruhi home in the evening, thus missing out on the chance to dine with her, he chose to spare no expense for tonight's homecoming dinner for Haruhi's father. On the way to the restaurant, they stopped and purchased appropriate dining apparel for both Haruhi and Ranka.

**Chapter Eight**

They arrived at the restaurant, and were promptly seated, as Ranka made a comment about how the Otori name must carry more weight that he realized. Kyoya simply smirked. They ordered and were left with a bottle of the best champagne. While they waited for their meal, Ranka explained to both Haruhi and Kyoya what had transpired. It seems that Ranka's (now former) lover and (supposedly) silent partner in the bar had been borrowing excessively large amounts of money from the wrong type of people, supposedly for the bar. Truth was, that he was socking it away to leave Ranka and run away with another lover that he had on the side, leaving Ranka with all the debt. While he has a tendency to spend money frivolously, he still knows how to run his bar, and the first time the loan sharks started coming around, Ranka put his bar in Haruhi's name. That's how he was able to pay the rent and provide her food money even though he was gone. Since the bar couldn't be taken as it was no longer in Ranka's name, they took Ranka to work as their slave. It was a fairly large operation, who hid their tracks well, and that's why it took Otori investigators over 6 months to find him.

There food was served, but they continued to talk. Only this is where Kyoya took over. He explained that when the Host club sat Haruhi down last Friday, is when he got the call that they thought that they had found Ranka, but they weren't sure of the condition he was in. Kyoya immediately left to go negotiate his release. Kyoya explained that he basically had to buy the debt that had been thrust upon Ranka. It was not until early that morning that he had finished negotiations, and paid the lofty sum. Ranka was now "owned" by Kyoya for 37,002,750,000 yen. Both Kyoya and Ranka knew that the bar that Ranka ran was not worth that much. Well, let's face it, even Haruhi knew that much. But to pay that back, both she and Ranka would be working for Otori for the rest of their natural lives. This was just too much for Haruhi to hear right now, so she excused herself to go to the bathroom. She started to cry… not because of the amount of debt, per se, but more so because of who the debt was too. She wanted to be on an equal footing with her Senpai once she got her law degree. She was tired of being a commoner in his eyes. He was the one who she had, in a round about way, spoke to Mori-senpai about. It had taken a lot to figure out what exactly the feeling that she was having were, and part of what she subconsciously wrote in the notebook over the weekend had brought these feeling to the surface, and put a name to them. But how could she face the man that she felt she was falling in love with if she was 37 billion yen indebted to him? She cleared her mind, washed her face, and headed back to the dinner table.

When Haruhi returned to the table, it was suspiciously quiet, and Kyoya had his laptop out. He was frantically typing away, mumbling to himself as he worded and reworded a business proposal. Kyoya looked up from his work, over the top of his laptop at Haruhi who was sitting directly across from him. She could have sworn that she saw a smile, before he dropped his gaze back to his work. Oh well. After dinner, Kyoya suggested that they call the rest of the Host club for dessert to celebrate. He still had a little bit of work to do on the document that he was working on, and it was of the utmost importance, priority one. If they called the other members, he should have time to get it finished before everyone got there and got served, in order for him to join the party. Haruhi didn't really want the twins or Tamaki around just yet, but not being able to tell that to Kyoya, she just sighed and started calling the twins, who would spread the word.

They rest of the Hosts showed up ordering many, many desserts. The banter was light, and everyone, in turn, commented on how happy they were to see Haruhi's real smile come back again. Ranka was oddly silent every time someone mentioned the debt, and a few jabs were made at Haruhi about how much she and her father were alike… only difference being 8 million vs. 37 billion in debt. That caused Haruhi to cringe. Again, she knew that she and her father would never be able to pay that amount off, no matter how hard they tried. Finally, Kyoya pulled a flash drive off of his computer and handed it to the waiter, asking him to print it out. Then he closed his laptop, and smiled. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile. Another comment was made to Haruhi about how she would be working for the Otori instead of the Host club until she was one hundred and fifty. Kyoya simply looked at her and said, "Don't worry, we've worked something out… if your not opposed. But we can talk about that later. Just enjoy yourself tonight."

The waiter returned with Kyoya's printout, which he promptly verified and placed the second printout in Ranka's hands. After Ranka skims over the papers, he hands them back to Kyoya and tells him that they can finalize this later in the week, or so.

As it nears midnight, Haruhi reminds everyone that they all have school in the morning. Everyone bids a fond farewell. Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai offer Ranka and Haruhi a ride home, but Ranka refuses, stating "A Lady always leaves the party with the gentleman who brought her."

Kyoya looks at Ranka as he says that, but says nothing. Haruhi, worried that they have put Kyoya out too much already asks if he would rather that they ride with Huni/Mori-senpai. Her questions are met with a resounding, "NO!!! I mean, no it's quite alright. I actually wanted to spend some time with the two of you before we go our separate ways. Don't worry about it. I will make sure you get home safely."

Mori-senpai stares at Kyoya for a moment, but says nothing. As everyone climbs into their own limo to head home, they each, in turn, stare at both Kyoya and Haruhi as if something is strange. Kyoya holds the limo door first for Haruhi, and then for Ranka, then climbs in himself, positioning himself between father and daughter. He turns to Haruhi as they near her home and asks, "Haruhi, tomorrow may I see you home? Your father and I still have some business to finalize, and I have something I would like to talk to you about as well."

"Certainly, Senpai. Would you like to stay for dinner as well?"

"It would be a pleasure, thank you. Shall I bring anything?"

"Senpai, you have already done more than I can ever repay. More than I could ever have hoped for, ever. No, don't worry about tomorrow's dinner. It may be commoner food, but I will make sure that you eat well, or as well as I can, at least."

Before she gets out of the limo, Kyoya asks, "Haruhi did anything happen at the club while I was gone? Anything unusual, particularly to you?"

"Ehh, N-n-no, W-why do you ask?" but she is pretty sure she has given herself away by her stutter. Does he really want to know about what happened with her and Mori-senpai? Would he add to her debt if he found out?

"No one pinned you, or tried to steal a kiss? Did anything to leave you breathless?" Kyoya queries.

"N-n-no, who would want to do that? What merit is there in that?" As she replies, she prays that her face does not give the truth away. It isn't so much that someone stole a kiss, but she kissed Mori-senpai on the cheek. Is that what he is asking about?

She and her father slide out of the limo and go through the front door. Ranka looks around, realizes that he truly is home again, and begins to weep. Between the sobs, Haruhi is sure that she heard him say something that sounded like "but why do I have to give up her life for my own". Unsure of what to make of everything, and being completely and totally exhausted, both physically and mentally, Haruhi bathes and goes to bed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter eight… Ranka looks around, realizes that he truly is home again, and begins to weep. Between the sobs, Haruhi is sure that she heard him say something that sounded like "but why do I have to give up her life for my own". Unsure of what to make of everything, and being completely and totally exhausted, both physically and mentally, Haruhi bathes and goes to bed.

**Chapter Nine**

The next morning truly was business as usual, now that her father was home. Haruhi followed the same routine as she had before Ranka's disappearance. The only difference is, this time, when she headed out the door towards school, there sat not one, but two limos waiting to take her to school. The twins hopped out of the lead limo, but right behind them was Kyoya with a very stern look on his face. The twins took one look and their senpai and screeched! They ran back to their limo screaming, "The Shadow king is going to kill us!"

Kyoya gently took Haruhi's elbow and escorted her to his limo, "For you, M'Lady" as he handed her a bouquet of red and white roses. And with a sweeping bow, he opened the car door for her.

To say that Haruhi was puzzled would be an understatement. She wondered if he had hit his head while he was gone the last few days. He was displaying very UN-Kyoya like behavior… or was it just Host behavior. Either way, it was not normal for Kyoya to behave that way towards Haruhi, and she knew it. But he had, in essence, saved her life by finding her father. She could not be so disrespectable as to question his motives.

School was punctuated with the twins being more rambunctious than usual. Host Club seemed normal, except for the fact that today, instead of the guests being the center of attention, Haruhi was. "Tamaki, both twins, and Mori-senpai all seem to be staring at me, and on occasion, I happen to glance over, and Kyoya-senpai is glaring at me as well" Haruhi thought to herself. As the guest filed out at the end of the day, Haruhi caught Huni-senpai and asked him if he noticed anything unusual about today. He told her that the only thing different was that he had seen a real smile on her face for the first time in almost 7 months. When she tried to ask more specifically about the other Hosts, Hikaru interrupts to ask if he and his brother may come over after school today. "No, not today. Give dad some time to readjust to being home. When I left for school this morning, he hadn't even gone to the bar yet. Maybe over the weekend, or next weekend would be better." Dejected, Hikaru leaned on his brother and whined about not being loved anymore.

After all the guests had left, Haruhi was still cleaning the last of the dishes when Huni-senpai peeked in to offer her a ride. "No thanks, I'm good. Thank you." As Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai made their way out to their limo, only Kyoya and Tamaki were left with Haruhi. Tamaki, of course, was trying everything under the sun to convince Haruhi to let him give her a ride home. Frustrated at his childish whining and temper tantrums, Haruhi stomped her foot hard on the ground, with her fists on her hips, "I said NO. I do not need you to give me a ride home today. I am very grateful for all the rides you have given me so far, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I am going to the exact same place and Kyoya-senpai. Therefore, I will not have you waste your gas and time to go out of your way to take me home. And dammit, if it really comes down to it, I will just take the train like I used to do last year. Now, GO!" And with that Tamaki stomped off leaving only Haruhi and Kyoya alone to finish cleaning up.

"Haruhi, you didn't have to yell at him. He just wants to spend time with you, you know. He cares about you." Kyoya stares at Haruhi from behind his laptop.

"Senpai, I know that everyone cares for me. I know that everyone wants the best for me. And I know that if they didn't care, that nothing would have gone right in the last half year. But since the start of club activities today, I have had holes bored through me from everyone's stares. You included. It's as if I have some strange alien growing out of my forehead or something. Why is everyone staring at me? And why, when I ask them about it, does everyone act like I am a bother. For once in a very very long time, things are going better than I would expect. Dad is home, we have a roof over our heads, food in our tummies, he has a job still, I have friends who have cared for me while I didn't think I could care for myself, my grades are coming back up, and… well even though the debt isn't exactly a good thing, at least it is with someone who I trust will be fair. And, by the way, I know I may have said it before, but thank you. Anyway, things are good, but then why was everyone looking at me like I have a plague… well, everyone except Tamaki, who wont take no for an answer."

"Haruhi, do you know what will take place in about five months?" Kyoya asks ask he packs his laptop up and prepares for the ride home.

"You and Tamaki graduate, right?"

"Yes. And do you and the twins have any other potential club members lined up yet?"

"No, why would we?"

"Well, simply put, even though Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai have been coming every day, and Tamaki and I will come as well, as long as there is a club to come to, there is a problem. There needs to be five high school students for a club to be a valid activity. That means that they might close down the Host club if there is only Hikaru, Kaoru, and yourself. On top of that, because of club activities, Tamaki has not allowed himself to get close to any particular female, save one who does not appear interested in him. Further more, there is the distinct possibility that Tamaki's grandmother will force him into an arranged marriage after he graduates from high school." Kyoya's face showed a stern but caring look as he spoke.

He continued on, "In less time than you have had to deal with your family being torn apart, Tamaki will have to deal with the same, only he knows its coming but does not see an end to it like you got. Since he started the Host Club, it has been his baby. He calls all of the hosts his family. And in fact, thanks to his grandmother, Tamaki sees us as his ONLY family. And we are about to be torn apart. He just wants to spend time with the only girl who he has felt truly close to before we all go our separate ways. I can understand where he is coming from."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter nine… "…Since he started the Host Club, it has been his baby. He calls all of the hosts his family. And in fact, thanks to his grandmother, Tamaki sees us as his ONLY family. And we are about to be torn apart. He just wants to spend time with the only girl who he has felt truly close to before we all go our separate ways. I can understand where he is coming from."

**Chapter Ten**

The pair makes their way to Kyoya's limo as he adds, "And he's not the only one who was showing signs of longing to spend time with someone special today. Although the twins will get a whole other year with you since you three share the same class, Huni and Mori will not. And I have it on good authority that when I asked you if anything happened while I was away, you lied to me. You became weak and nearly fainted, so one of our fellow hosts carried you to the garden and held you. My source tells me that the one thing that the whole club finds fascinating about you is your lack of awareness when someone is essentially confessing to you. The 'special someone' that was referred to when you were being held in the garden, is the same person that Tamaki wants to spend time with… the same, no, the only person that the twins ever fought over. Even Huni-senpai skipped time at the dojo to try to spend time with that special person. The special person that each host wants to spend time with is the same person that is going home together with me right now." He let's that bit of information sink in. Knowing Haruhi, it will take a minute. She is intelligent, but not very fast on the uptake when it comes to social skills.

Kyoya pulls out his cell phone and looks up a text that he received a few days back. "Ahh here it is. And according to my very reliable source, let's see… weeping into his chest, and then the conversation went something like this… _Senpai, do you have a girlfriend? No. Do you have someone that you like? Yes, but she is out of reach. Out of reach? What do you mean? Like an idol or star, of sorts. Everyone sweetheart, no one can claim her as their own. She must be special. She is. So why don't you tell her? She wouldn't believe me if I did. Why not? She doesn't know how special she is, and to how many people she is special to. She thinks that she is just an ordinary girl. But she couldn't be more wrong. Would she, maybe, get jealous if she saw me like this?_ Apparently there was no verbal response to that question. Anyway continuing on with the conversation, it goes on… _She should be. Because you will get snatched up if you ever put yourself out there seriously. You're too good to pass up. Shall we go back? After I stop by the restroom to wash my face, that is. I'll be right there._ Ahh here it is, the part you wouldn't have heard…_ Why would 'she' be jealous, when you are the 'she' in question, my dear sweet Haruhi?_ End of message. So, either you didn't see that as something worthy of reporting, or you also harbor feeling for Mori-senpai. Haruhi, I have to ask, please forgive me for prying into your personal affairs, but do YOU have someone special that you like?"

"Wait, wait, wait! How did you get the conversation between me and Mori-senpai that took place while you were not at school, and in a text? And how can I be sure that he actually said that last part. Mori-senpai would never call me his dear sweet Haruhi, would he?"

"I told you that I put bodyguards on you the day that your dad disappeared. They are still in place right now. After your dad and I sign the contract tonight, that is when I will feel comfortable enough that no one will come after you; that is when I will call them back. And, in addition to guards, someone was doing some checking up on you on their own. Afraid that I would get burned if I got involved in this deal, this text was sent so that I was fully aware of my situation. Even without knowledge of this conversation I am still fully aware." They slide into the waiting limo and rode in silence until just before reaching their destination.

"Haruhi, may I ask a very personal question, again" he paused, waiting for a response.

"Uhn, what is it, Senpai?"

"Do YOU have someone special that you like? Someone that caused you to look towards Mori-senpai for advice? Or maybe even Mori himself?"

"I, well, I don't know how to honestly answer that because... I, umm... Well you know that I love my Host Club family, but there is someone who, over time, my feelings have grown stronger for him than the rest, but..." she trailed off, staring out the window.

"But?"

"But, I doubt he cares. In fact, out of everyone I know, he seems to be least likely to return my feelings. He finds fault in everything I do. But it doesn't matter really, because if I were rejected by him, it would be near impossible to do what I need to do at school. So I will not confess."

Kyoya adjusted his glasses and wiped away a tear, thankful that Haruhi was not looking in his direction at that moment. It took him a moment to find his voice, "Could you ever find it in your heart to love someone else? Someone who would give you the world if you only asked, but had not approached you yet because of the club members?"

"I suppose it's possible. As long as he didn't call himself my 'daddy'. But it might take some time." Ironically, the one who referred to himself as her daddy had, at one time, been the one her heart leaned towards and Kyoya knew this. But if it wasn't still Tamaki, then who would he have to compete against? He was completely baffled.

The limo pulled up to her apartment, and they climbed out. They made their way to the front room and Haruhi excused herself to go make coffee and change clothes. When she returned with the coffee, she took the breath away from both men who had been discussing repayment plan.

Instead of sloppy clothes that hid her late-blooming figure, she stood there in a classic vision of girlish innocence, wearing a simple white dress with pink accents. Nothing frilly or over-the-top, ala Tamaki and the twins, but simple and understated. Kyoya's hand covered his mouth, but it was moments before he forced a cough to try to cover his reaction. He thanked her for the coffee as he noticed that she made no pretence of offering sugar or cream, as she knew that he preferred his coffee black.

Ranka continued to stare as he mumbled, "my baby girl is growing up" over and over again. Finally taking the coffee, he asks her to join them. Her reply, "I would, but I need to run to the store for supper" send Kyoya for his phone.

"Take Miss Fujioka to whatever store she desires," he says into the phone, and then turns to Haruhi. "Please don't make us both worry, and accept a ride."

Haruhi accepts and goes to the store. Upon her return, she makes supper. As she serves the food she realizes that the men are now engaged in social conversation instead of business. Ranka told stories of what he had been through, making sure to not mention anything that might upset his daughter. He spoke of a woman he met who reminded him of his late wife, and from there the stories went to ones of the love he had shared with the only woman he ever loved. As he spoke, he observed his guest, who he noticed had the same look he was describing. A look of unending love. He also saw his daughter steal glances at the guest as well, when he wasn't looking, often with the same underlying emotions. He led the discussion to Haruhi, and queried if anything had changed while he was gone. Had anyone made any romantic advances towards her? She stammered and then excused herself before answering, but when she returned, she avoided the topic.

As the evening ended, and Haruhi was walking Kyoya out of the apartment, Ranka chuckled to himself, "That boy doesn't even know that this is no contest. He's won her heart already."

"Haruhi...do you remember the conversation in the limo?" She nodded. "Could you ever find it in your heart... To allow me...allow me to steal your heart away from your unrequited love? I don't know who it is that holds you back, but you deserve the world offered at your feet. I wouldn't be so bold as to ask you to forget your first love, but I am asking that you let me be your second and greatest love. Please."

All she could do was stare. "Are you toying with my emotions?" They had stopped on the stairs so that they were eye level, face to face. She searched his face for clues. The Great Shadow King gave no indication that this was a trifling.

"I would never do that to you, especially after all you have been through this last year. And I know that I would be asking a lot of you, because not only would we have to keep it a secret from the school, but also from the other Hosts as well. That would include whichever it was that currently holds your heart." He felt a twinge of pain and jealousy.

"But why the other hosts?"

He took her hand and brought it gently to his lips, "Because if they knew that you were no longer 'everyone's sweetheart' there would be fierce competition for your attention, and the other hosting duties would be forgotten by more that half of the hosts. It is an unwritten rule between the six of us that you are off limits. And if it was known that I broke that rule, there would be hell to pay. Not that you are not worth it, but it would also ruin the friendship we've built. And I don't want them to treat you badly for rejecting them."

"You make this sound as if everyone loves me."

"They do! And I am sure that if not for the fact that you are considered off limits, that hug with Mori-senpai while I was gone would have led to more if you allowed." He stopped, attempting to regain composure. Why was she the only one who could get him worked up to the point of dropping his façade? "As I said, more than half of the club has an interest in you, and I am selfish. I don't want to share. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if even our senpai who is currently engaged by an arranged marriage doesn't have feelings for you that he is repressing out of respect for his fiancée, the other hosts, and you."

"Kyoya, I'm not..." she started but was hushed be a finger to the lips.

"I am not asking for an answer now... Just that you consider it. I know that you don't like lying to our friends, and that you have feelings towards one, and that if you grew bold enough to tell him, I would lose you to him... But please consider me." He turned to leave but felt hands on his shoulders.

Haruhi turned him around and before he could speak, she kissed him on the lips.

Shocked absolutely still for a moment, when he grasped what was happening, he began to return the kiss, his right hand clasping the back of her head and the other grabbing her waist tightly. When she finally pulled back, her only words were, "considered. It is quite the feat for you to steal from yourself. Goodnight." She turned and ran into her apartment, hoping her father did not see the blush on her cheek. Although he did not see the blush, he had witnessed the interaction through the window, and smiled broadly. He didn't want his baby girl to grow up, but if she had to, becoming an Otori was better than his dreams for her had hoped.

On the ride home, her words replayed over and over again. Had she really said what he thought he heard? Had she really said, "It is quite the feat for you to steal from yourself." Did that mean that he held the keys to her heart to begin with? He knew that she had grown weary of Tamaki's antics, as well as those of the Hitachiin twins. Huni-senpai, of course would not choose her over his arranged marriage, but Mori-senpai was another story.

Fuyumi, Kyoya's sister had gone to the school to spy around, to see if she could ascertain where her baby brother had disappeared to. If her memory served her, the name called out in a fuss behind the doors she was poised at was one often referred to by her brother, often with a spark in his eye. When the door flung open, her presence was hidden by the door itself. Recognizing the situation, she followed the quiet giant and smallish androgynous child. She wasn't seen, as she snuck out close enough to hear what was going on. She thanked the heavens for her stealthy and speedy texting abilities. She may not know where her brother was, but she was sure he'd find this conversation interesting. She was right, he texted her back for the first time in three days. Until that text from his sister, he had never considered his senpai to be harboring feeling for their female kouhai. The message from his sister opened his eyes, and at the same time fueled his fervor to settle the negotiations at hand so that he would have the upper hand. His mind drifted back to the present as he realized that his senpai would not be as big of a problem as he had expected. He smiled to himself as her words replayed yet again, fading into the memory of the kiss. "Oh my god! That kiss! Haruhi would never kiss someone frivolously. How could I have even questioned it?" A peaceful calming feeling came over him as he realized that he was one... No two steps closer to his goal. "But wait, what did she mean when she was referring to the man she cares for and said _'…I doubt he cares. In fact, out of everyone I know, he seems to be least likely to return my feelings. He finds fault in everything I do._' Was she saying that about me? Do I find fault in everything she does? Is that how she sees me? Oh god. Has my attempts to increase her debt so that she would not be able to leave the club turned into a fault-finding obsession? Could my desire to keep her near me be a reason she holds back? Oh god, what have I done?" Kyoya ran through the monologue out loud, grateful that the divider was up and his driver was listening to the radio.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter ten… "…Oh god, what have I done?" Kyoya ran through the monologue out loud, grateful that the divider was up and his driver was listening to the radio.

**Chapter Eleven**

Haruhi couldn't sleep that night. The next morning, despite the lack of sleep, she was in a good mood. Ranka teased her, "You're as giddy as a school girl in love. Hmmmm could you possibly be said school girl in love?"

His teasing was met with a resounding "DAD!!!" as she prepares to leave for school. Shoveling one last bite into her mouth, Haruhi grabs her school bag and heads out the door on her way out to school. Her father calls after her, "Don't forget that I am going to the club tonight… I haven't seen it in almost seven months, ok? I won't be home for supper." Haruhi is met on the stairs by a slightly disheveled Kyoya, who speaks up for her in response to Ranka's statement, "It's ok, I will make sure that she eats well tonight." Turning to face her, "You will give me the pleasure of your company tonight for dinner, right? Seeing as I have already told your father that I would make sure that you ate properly."

"Senpai, what are you doing here? Umm and I guess I will join you since you already promised my dad."

"Kyoya"

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"It's just Kyoya. Please drop the honorifics if we are going out. And I am here to escort my girlfriend to school. Even if I can't tell the world that she is my girlfriend, yet. Or did I misunderstand what happened last night. I may have been jumping to conclusions when I assumed that someone who does not frivolously kiss others, kissed me, that it was acceptance of my proposal to date." Adjusting his glasses, he hid the spike of emotions and questions that flashed across his face. _Was I wrong? Does she actually hate me, and it truly is someone else that she cares for?_ His mind was reeling a mile a minute until she spoke.

"Ehh, No, I mean Yes... I mean… You are correct, I don't carelessly kiss people. But are you sure that this is what you want? Me, I mean… that I am who you, the Great Shadow King, and third son of the Otori family wants to date? The me who is constantly increasing instead of decreasing her own debt to the Host Club? The one who you once agree that there was no merit in getting involved with, that night at Nekozawa Mansion? Kyoya, please… may we discuss this rationally later, after school? I am a little confused with some things, and would like to talk them out before I agree or reject you. Please?" She knew that this would not be easy, specially hiding it from the other club members. But more importantly, she wanted to know why he would ask her out, when prior to this, he had not seemed to care at all.

"Ok, we will go to dinner after club today. We can discuss it then. Is that ok?"

"Yes, that is fine."

"Great, now will you please get in the limo, so that we can go to school?"

Haruhi climbed into the limo and settled back against the plush seat, resting her head back and her hands by her side. Kyoya settled in next to her, and slide his arm behind her head to allow her to rest easier. He took her hand in his, and brought it lightly to his lips. He did not let go of her hand again until he had stepped out of the limo and helped her out as well. Then, and only then did he make any effort to let her hand go. He had wanted to kiss her properly on the lips, but decided against it, since she had reservations about dating him. He knew that this would not be easy, but he also knew that he had a deadline to meet. He didn't have time to make mistakes and have to backtrack.

School went as usual, and club activities kept Haruhi very busy, but she did find… no, correction, she made the time to apologize to Tamaki for snapping at him the day before. He, of course, bragged to the other hosts about what a good daughter he had, and that she must really love her daddy to say such sweet things. This had everyone rolling their eyes, mumbling such things as "typical Tamaki". And of course, the closing of the club for the day was punctuated by the twins asking to come over to Haruhi's house to play. "Not this time, please. I have too much to do. Dad will be going back to work soon, so I have to prepare for that. I promise though… soon! Not this weekend, probably, but maybe next weekend everyone can come over and we'll have a get together to celebrate dad's return. Ok?"

The Hitachiin twins grumbled and reluctantly agreed.

Kyoya, who was still sitting at his normal spot with his laptop open, smiled silently. Even though she hated lying to her friends, she had done a good job of putting them off for a little while longer. No one knew that they had dinner plans this evening, and if he could help it, no one needed to know either. Not that he minded a little bit of competition on a normal basis, but this was no normal circumstance. And, Tamaki overly enthusiastic, as usual, also offered Haruhi a ride home.

Trying to not repeat the incident from the day prior, she calmly replied that she had plans. Although Tamaki didn't let it go at that, she continued on and remained calm, not showing her frustration. Kyoya noted this and decided that he would reward her. Opening the ledger spreadsheet he reduced her debt to the club by 10% remarking only "for good deeds" in the comments field. "I just need to tell her about it, and that would be a great ice breaker for dinner tonight", he reminded himself.

After the guests all left, the hosts made their way out, one by one. Finally it was just Tamaki, Kyoya and Haruhi left. Since it was normal for Kyoya to be the last one to leave, usually working on something on his computer, he continued to sit in his normal place under the pretense of working on the laptop. Haruhi, painstakingly slow to complete her cleaning tasks in the first place, drug it out even further by only taking the cup but leaving Kyoya's saucer on the table. Hoping that Tamaki would leave before she finished, she packed up her belonging, and started to say goodbye to Kyoya when she "incidentally" saw the saucer. Dropping her bag, she took care of the saucer and slowly as she could. It was done, yet Tamaki had not left. He was milling around, not doing much of anything. She picked up her bag again, and bid both boys a good night. She knew that if she didn't keep her dinner with Kyoya a secret that there would be hell to pay. No luck. Tamaki followed her out and insisted over and over again that he would give her a ride to where ever it was that she needed to go. He was more persistent that she had ever seen him before. Finally as she was about at her limit, just seconds before she started to scream at him to leave her alone, Kyoya exited the building and called to her. "Ranka just called and asked me to give you a ride over to his shop to pick something up. I hope you don't mind Tamaki, I didn't know that you hadn't left, so I promised him I would see that she was taken care of. Of course, Father, if I had known that you were only milling around to sexually harass our daughter, I would have left the job it to you, since it is more out of my way that it is yours."

Tamaki looked as if his security blankie had been taken away by a big bad kindergarten bully. "I was not sexually harassing my daughter. I was trying to look out for her and only offered her a ride."

"Ahh, ok, well since I informed Ranka that I would be the one transporting her, I guess we should be going. Have a good evening Tamaki. See you tomorrow." Kyoya strode confidently over and escorted Haruhi to his limo. Tamaki stood there gaping at them as they drove away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter eleven… "Ahh, ok, well since I informed Ranka that I would be the one transporting her, I guess we should be going. Have a good evening Tamaki. See you tomorrow." Kyoya strode confidently over and escorted Haruhi to his limo. Tamaki stood there gaping at them as they drove away.

**Chapter Twelve**

"I'm sorry senpai, I didn't know what else to do."

"Kyoya, we're alone now, so call me Kyoya."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. You did fine. Tamaki was extra persistent today, wasn't he? I guess he must have a feeling that something is up."

"Thank you for saving me. If we decide to go forward, this is going to get hard."

"If? So does this mean that you have reconsidered?"

"No, not reconsidered. Still considering, I guess. I don't know. I am so confused. There is so much that I don't understand."

"Ok, well let's wait until we get to the restaurant before we get into an in-depth discussion about this. I hope French is acceptable."

Haruhi just shrugged. She was used to cooking for herself, but had gotten used to restaurants since her friends would not let her dine alone during her father's absence.

After being seated, Kyoya ordered for them. He also pre-arranged to have the table surrounded with bouquets of Roses that worked as a privacy shield from the rest of the restaurant.

"Senp… I mean Kyoya, I just want to say that I acted impetuously last night. Please forgive me. I should have thought more clearly before acting as I did. It's just that what you said to me… it really threw me for a loop. I didn't know which way was up."

"Then let me ask you something. Yesterday, when you kissed me, you said something about stealing from myself in response to my question about stealing you from whoever holds your heart. Did I misunderstand or misinterpret what you said?"

"Not exactly, but you… If you remember, I said that the person I have grown to care for more than the other hosts was someone who I didn't think cared, and finds fault in everything that I do. How can someone claim to care about you if they are too busy pointing out your flaws? I don't understand. Every tiny mistake I make at the Host Club gets added to my debt, even if I am not the only one at fault. I am being forced to pay for more of the twin's mistakes, simply because you deem it my fault or I was merely in the vicinity. You know… I have to tell you… That really hurts when you do that to me." As she starts to tear up, Haruhi continues on, "Back before my debt was so large, I used to think about what I would do when it was paid off. I was afraid that I would be kicked out of the club. That scared me because as I have said, you guys are the closest thing I have to family other than dad. I didn't want to lose that. But, as my debt built up larger instead of dwindling down, I started thinking that if I ever had it paid off, I would quit the club before you created a whole new debt for me to work off. Even though I have fun at club, I don't like being in debt to someone. I don't like this feeling. And as soon as you would do something nice for me, growing in my heart, you would increase my debt. I honestly thought that you hated me. So much so, that the day that dad disappeared, it took hours between his disappearance and when the twins called me. I slept that whole time because I had not slept the night before. I was up all night worrying about how you would make me repay for the bottle of water that you handed me in club but didn't mention adding it to my debt. Stupid, I know, but that was where my mind went."

"Haruhi, I'm sorry. I didn't know that I had become like that. I handed you the water because I wanted to reward you for an extra well done job. I didn't realize at that time, that I had been punishing you so severely that it was all that you have come to expect from me. Honestly, I since before I even realized that I care about you, I had been adding to your debt as a way to keep you around. I couldn't put a finger on what I was feeling, but I didn't want you to leave. As I have said before, there are more club members that you realize that harbor feelings for you. Most do not bother to say anything because we can recognize the same feelings in other members. Some keep quiet about it because they are just too... I don't know… too… Tamaki! Frankly, I am probably going to piss a lot of my friends off once they know about us… assuming there will be an us."

"You say this, but…"

"Haruhi, let me draw you a picture, ok? First, there is Suou Tamaki, our club leader and currently a senior. He fell in love with you a long time ago, but didn't understand what the feeling was. As you remember, we had to force his hand to recognize what those feelings truly were. Next we have the Hitachiin twins, Kaoru and Hikaru, currently second year. Hikaru, the older twin, was unaccustomed to having anything for himself and shared everything with his brother, except his feeling for you. But we all know that those two know what is on the other's mind, so it wasn't hard for Kaoru to figure out. Speaking of which, Kaoru, the younger twin, also had feelings for you, but gave up because he valued his relationship with his brother more. Next up, we have to two OB's to the club, Haninodzuka Mitsukuni aka Huni-senpai, and Morinodzuka Takashi aka Mori-senpai, both currently in first year of college. Huni-senpai is currently engaged through an arranged marriage, and would never disrespect his fiancée as to voice out-loud any feelings for anyone else, but I strongly believe that if not for his fiancée, he would have also brought feelings for you into light. And then there is Mori-senpai, who as I mentioned the other day, just this week alone, has voiced that you are the special someone who he feels is out of reach. Honestly, Haruhi, do you really not see that we don't just care for about you, we all, in our own ways, love you. So to flaunt that in front of the others would just be cruel. I may be a Shadow King, but I am not absolutely cruel to my friends. That's why I would want to keep it quiet for now. I am not talking about forever, just until Tamaki and I graduate. Not to mention, if they knew that we were going together, could you imagine us trying to have a date? They would all want to come along. You told Tamaki that you had plans today yet he still insisted on trying to be involved."

"True."

"And just for the record, there is something that has been bothering me all day. This morning on the ride to school, you stated that I had agreed that there was no merit in getting involved with you that summer break at the Nekozawa Mansion. I never said that there was no merit. In fact I never replied at all. I let my emotions get out of control, but you took it as me playing the villain to teach you a lesson. Instead of admitting my own faults, since Otori's are not supposed to have faults, I allowed you to continue to believe that. I never once said that there was no merit. Feeling your hair between my fingers, your warmth underneath me after I pushed you down, and your breath on my skin, all of that was more than enough merit for me. I felt feelings that I had never had before. Yes I may be a host, but that's play-acting. What I felt with you that night, and last night… that was real."

"How can you be sure?"

"How can you not be? I can't tell you what is sure about anything in this world right now except for these few facts. First, I know that even if it's not love, what ever it is, I don't want to be without you. It took every ounce of restraint this morning to only kiss your hand, and not kiss you the way you kissed me last night. When I took you in my arms, I never wanted to let go. I still don't. After I left you last night my arms ached to hold you more. They still do. I want to take you in my arms right here and now and scream at the top of my lungs to the whole world that Fujioka Haruhi is mine, and as soon as she will have me, I want to change her name to Otori Haruhi. If I knew how to tell the other hosts without breaking my friends hearts, I would call them right this second. But I don't know how to save them from pain. More importantly though, if neither their pain nor their friendship is important to you and you really want me to, I will purchase a girl's school uniform for you, and we will walk in that school tomorrow morning telling the whole school that you are a girl… no that you are my girl. The friendships that have been formed at the club would be instantly severed, and many, many hearts would be broken. But if that is what you want, I will do it. I will do anything to make you happy. Please. Say that you haven't reconsidered. Tell me that you will be mine, even if we can't tell our friends yet." Kyoya moved from his seat and kneeled next to Haruhi holding her hands in his with tears in his eyes.

Although she thought the excessive amount of flowers was a bit over the top, now she was grateful to have such a privacy screen from the rest of the restaurant. If anyone had seen a member of the Otori family down on his knee, is would have been trouble for Kyoya. "Get off of your knees. You will get dirty. Sit down, and let's eat."

"Not until you tell me that you will be mine. Or if not, they why?"

"How about a trial run? One month. If things work out, we will stay together. If not, then we end it, clean. No added debt to the club, and all I owe you is the debt you occurred while searching for Dad. But you will not add to it for anything that I say or do. It is just a simple interest, no penalty loan. How does that sound to you? Do we have a deal?"

"Fujioka Haruhi you really know how to get my heart started. You drive a hard bargain. It's a deal. But… do we really need to put it in writing? I mean the part about the dating for one month. The repayment part is already covered. Not that it matters, because I have no intention of ever letting you go. Not now, not in one month, not ever." Kyoya stands, then bends down to the still seated Haruhi and hugs her tightly. They finish their meal trying to figure out ways to spend time together without the rest of the club knowing, especially since they all tend to try to monopolize her weekends. The ride home included a detour to lake park, where the two strolled holding hands. In the limo, Kyoya rested his arm on her shoulders, and Haruhi laid her head on his arm. As he walked Haruhi up to her door, he asked what her plans for this weekend were. She thought about it, but knowing the twins and Tamaki, someone would probably show up on her doorstep first thing in the morning. This was inevitable, despite the fact that she had repeatedly asked them not to show up this weekend since it was her first weekend with her dad since he returned.

"What time does Ranka usually get home in the mornings?"

"About 6 or 6:30 ish, why do you ask?"

"Have both of you an overnight bag packed by 7 am. Those fools won't usually bother waking up until later, so if we leave town before that, we will beat them to it. I will call the corporate ossen and book us some rooms."

"Ehh… sen… errr Kyoya, isn't it a little soon to be traveling together?"

"Rooms, plural. One for you and one for Ranka and me. Or Ranka can stay in your room with you, whichever. But the point is, you and I will have time together, you and Ranka will have time together, Ranka and I can get to know each other better (since I am dating his daughter), and the over-the-top trio of Hitachiin twins and Suou Tamaki will not be given the opportunity to interrupt and ruin things. And don't worry, I have no intention of pushing things too fast. I love you Haruhi, and I don't want to scare you away. I will go as slow as you want me to. Ok? Just trust in me, please. Be ready to go by 7 am. I'll be here to pick you both up. Oh and by the way, did I tell you how lovely you looked in that dress last night? You were truly a vision. I think that's why I couldn't let you slip away from me." He gave her a light kiss on her cheek and turned to leave only after she let herself in and locked the front door.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter twelve… "Be ready to go by 7 am. I'll be here to pick you both up. Oh and by the way, did I tell you how lovely you looked in that dress last night? You were truly a vision. I think that's why I couldn't let you slip away from me." He gave her a light kiss on her cheek and turned to leave only after she let herself in and locked the front door.

**Chapter Thirteen**

Early the next morning, shortly after Ranka made his way into the house, Haruhi explained what was going on. Ranka chose to stay home, but only after strictly prohibiting that the two teens share a room, or anything that would imply. Haruhi understood what her father meant, but could not fathom the concept of such ideas relating to her. When Kyoya showed up, the interchange between the two men was sparse, mostly consisting of veiled fatherly threats if his daughter was mistreated in any way. Assuring his girlfriend's father that he would be nothing if not a gentleman, Kyoya explained that he had expected three for this trip so Ranka would be more that welcome as a chaperone. Kyoya reiterated the point that he had hoped to spend time with Ranka himself to get to know one another better. Ranka sighed and informed them that he would be going into work again that night. Kyoya looked at the older man and replied, "I understand, however I had hoped for a chaperone simply to give both you and your daughter peace of mind, as well as keep me a bay since you've raised such an amazing beauty, whom I long to hold." Haruhi recognized Kyoya's host mode immediately. He continued, "Not to mention, that she has little or no self-awareness that I am afraid that I might lose control when she is vulnerable. That could potentially destroy what I am hoping to build."

Ranka laughed, "Isn't this a tad bit backwards? Usually it is the parents wanting chaperones and fearing the loss of control."

"Maybe, but I don't want to push her too fast."

"She has always done what was right. I have faith that she will continue to do so." Ranka needed the couple to work out, but was obligated to not give any clue indicating such to his daughter. He knew all to well, just by watching, that she was already in love with him even before he found her notebook that chronicled everything that happened while he was gone. He hadn't told her that he read it since he found it when he was wandering around the house taking in the sights he had previously taken for granted. But then again, it didn't take a psychology expert to see the truth. And besides, she could do way worse that Otori Kyoya, for example, despite his lineage, that wild-child Suou Tamaki who used to drive him crazy with his antics. Ranka knew that his daughter loved each of her Host club friends, but he was really glad that she had dropped her crush on the disputed Suou heir. However, he didn't read anything in the notebook about a little tidbit that Kyoya told him about. It was something about the one they call Mori. Now that would be interesting to hear about, but not until he knew that his daughter was fully under the influence of Kyoya. He signed as he grabbed a bite to eat and then laid down to rest. It had been a long night at the club, and the person he had left in charge had made some interesting changes that would take some getting used to.

As for Kyoya and Haruhi, they climbed into the limo and left with little more discussion on the topic. Haruhi, while not as naive as her friends believed her to be, believed she was as self aware as she should be. Her worries were of what would happen when her friends called or showed up to find Ranka home, but not her. Besides their reaction, she also was concerned about not spending time with her father, but knew that he would sleep most of the day and then head back to the club most of the night. She sighed and resigned herself to the thought that maybe it was better that she was out of his way for the day so that he could get himself back into the swing of things.

Kyoya, however, was more worried about being able to control his feelings while alone with his girlfriend. She was the one and only person who could cause him to drop his façade, and that scared him. But, she had also be the voice of reason when he had lost control. It was an odd give and take relationship that was new and exciting to him. More importantly that exciting, which could wear off, there were undertones of comfort and reassurance. As the third son of the Otori Corporation head, he knew that his father would only allow so much of a personal agenda. He had to make the most of the next few months if he was to win over his father. This weekend would set the groundwork in place.

Her sigh brought him out of his self-observation. He took the silence as an opportunity to inform her of where they were going and a little more about the Otori Empire, since it was a private resort restricted entirely to corporate use such as rewards for exemplary employees, heads of departments, etc. When he finished his little speech, he grinned to himself. He knew that Haruhi was not be the least bit concerned about his families wealth nor his potential to purchase some of it's holdings out from under his older brother who would be his father's successor. As third son, he had little hopes of having recognition handed to him on a silver platter and he knew it. That is why he has worked so hard in everything that he does. He will not fail and will not allow his older brothers to surpass him. He just would not allow it. And now he finally had a reason, other than one-upping his brothers that is. He wanted to provide Haruhi with anything and everything that she desired. He had not realized that he felt this way, well not to the extent that he does, until recently. Some of the feelings were there before, otherwise the incident at the beach when he pinned her while visiting the Nekozawa Mansion would never have happened. But watching her in the last half year, as she struggled to deal with the (temporary) loss of her second parent, he came to admire her inner strength. Her outer beauty, too, had started to shine. He didn't think that she would be able to keep up the pretense of being male for much longer because she may have been late to bloom, but bloom is definitely what she was doing.

Lately her sweaters have been a little looser, attempting to hide that she was no longer the flat-chested little thing that stumbled into the club room almost 2 years ago. She had also developed more curves elsewhere as well, with hips that made him want to grab on and never let go. He coughed, and tried to clear his head. He couldn't allow himself to think that way right now. He had to move at a slow and steady pace. Haruhi was not one of the fangirls fawning all over him at the host club. She was one who was not even aware of the beauty of all women, never-mind that her own out-shone all the rest. No, her heart had to be won in a delicate way. Not with persistent barrage, such as Tamaki's approach had been. Nor silent waiting, as was apparently Mori-senpai's approach. For Haruhi to truly be his, he needed to make her want… no, she needed to NEED him in her life the way he needed her. To top it off, she had to believe it was her own idea. Well, no that's not right. It did need to be her very own wants and desires, and he could not manipulate those. But he did know that she would need more time to develop those feelings that he had. He hated being on a timeline. He hated that his father, who had married as part of an arranged marriage, was in love with Kyoya's mother before he knew that she was his arranged partner. It had been fate that brought them together. Kyoya was lucky in that his father, at his mother's insistence, would give each of his sons up until they graduated from high school to find the person that they loved. If they had not found someone at that point, their father would then take his time and find an appropriate marriage partner that would best suite his business holdings. Fuyumi, Kyoya's sister, however was not given a choice, their father arranged her marriage before she was out of high school. She didn't mind though, since fate had stepped in on her behalf. She followed in her mother and father's footsteps in that she was lucky enough to be arranged to marry the man that she had fallen in love with anyways.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter thirteen… Kyoya was lucky in that his father, at his mother's insistence, would give each of his sons up until they graduated from high school to find the person that they loved. If they had not found someone at that point, their father would then take his time and find an appropriate marriage partner that would best suite his business holdings. Fuyumi, Kyoya's sister, however was not given a choice, their father arranged her marriage before she was out of high school. She didn't mind though, since fate had stepped in on her behalf. She followed in her mother and father's footsteps in that she was lucky enough to be arranged to marry the man that she had fallen in love with anyways.

**Chapter Fourteen**

The young couple arrived at their destination. They were shown to their rooms and met back at the entrance. Kyoya wanted Haruhi to see some of the sights on the grounds. He had spend many summers here as a very young child. In hopes of letting her understand him better, he wanted her to know more about him. It surprised him that he felt this way. Normally he didn't care to let anyone inside his head. In fact, he deemed it best if no one knew what was going on in his head so that he could stay two steps ahead of his competition in the business world. But this wasn't the business world, he reminded himself. In fact, this was not a world he was familiar with at all, despite his hosting experience. Hosting and making a girl truly fall in love with you were two different things… even if it wasn't Haruhi that was the girl in question.

Together, they walked hand in hand to the lake where Kyoya, along with his siblings and mother, spent many summers while his father was either away on business or having business meetings at the ossen while they picnicked. They strolled through the lavish garden that sprawled out next to the small tributary that ran from the hot springs to the lake below. All the while, Kyoya talked about his early childhood and the stories his mother used to tell of how she and her husband were truly in love. He spoke of how he used to watch his parent, and hope that one day he too would have someone who he cared for as deeply. Then they made their way back down to the lake as the sun was setting. It truly was a very romantic setting as he sat under a tree looking at the sunset over the water and feeling the warmth of someone he loved sitting next to him, hand in hand. He looked at Haruhi and saw that she was staring at him in wonder.

"What?"

"Oh, sorry. It's nothing."

"Haruhi, what is it?

"I… ummm… I was just wondering where the shadow king went to. I haven't seen him all day. I have spent the whole day with an ordinary guy who had a mostly ordinary life. Not some stuck up snob raised in prestige and wealth. It, well, it's been rather refreshing." She smiled at him.

"Oh my god, you're right. We've spent the whole day together, and I have dominated the conversation the entire time. Please forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive. I have been enjoying myself. With life as it is at school, I forget that the elite can have normal lives too" she chuckled. "I just never thought that I would see this side of you, that's all. You tend to not show anyone anything other than your business façade. That can make a person lonely. It's nice to know that there is a real person under that façade." She snuggled up on his shoulder.

He didn't know if it was what she said, how she looked, how she snuggled up against him, or even if it was just that she was there with him, but he wanted to grab a hold of her and never let her go, no matter what anyone anywhere in the world said or did. He didn't know where he stood and it worried him a little. This was not an operation about the numbers, so he was not in him element. And this was definitely unfamiliar territory. His heart skipped a beat as he looked down at her resting peacefully on his shoulder, with her eyes closed. Damn, why did she have to be so vulnerable at that very moment? He drew her hand to his lips and did the only thing that he dared to do, so as to not lose control; he kissed her hand. If he tried to kiss her lips, he could not guarantee that he would stop. He had to remind himself to be patient. Patience is not normally an issue with the shadow king, as he could out-last the best of them. But when it comes to her, he was not so patient, even though now, it was utmost importance. They stood and dusted themselves off as they made their way to dinner. They shared dinner in Kyoya's room, and continued talking, only this time it was about Haruhi.

Kyoya grinned to himself. He didn't need to grow even more fond of her to know that he wanted her to be his wife in the future, but that is exactly what happened. She told stories of growing up, and he longed to see 5 yr old Haruhi fixing her father's bento before work. She was a strong and independent woman… even as a child. One who would most likely be able to handle the trials and tribulations of being the wife of an Otori. He could see it in everything that she did. Now he just needed to convince her. As she continued to talk, she sat down to his left, fingers of their right hands intertwined as they held hands, her head resting on his arm. He put his arm around her, as her speech slowed. Before he realized it, she had stopped talking altogether. He looked down at her to see her sleeping in his arms. Not wanting this to end, he stayed perfectly still for a while. Slowly he brought her left hand to his lips, kissing it gently. He bent slightly and kissed her forehead, and then her cheek. He moved so as to slightly brush his lips against hers. At that moment, he knew that he needed to wake her up and take her to her own room. With no chaperone here to stop him, he had to rely only on his need to not push her to fast as to push her away. He wanted to take her and make her his right then, but that would not be in his best interest. So he kissed her forehead again and tried to wake her gently. He walked her back to her room and then returned to his. He was not able to sleep however, remembering the kiss from two nights ago, and how vulnerable she had been at the moment when he stopped himself. _Oh god, this is going to be a torturous few months,_ he thought to himself as he finally drifted off to sleep.

He dreamed of the future, the children they would have, and the love they would share. He dreamed of waking each other with gentle kisses every morning. He dreamed that Haruhi was over him, calling to him to wake up. Then he felt her warm breath… this was not a dream. He opened his eyes slightly to sneak a peek, only to find her very near him, trying to gently wake him up for breakfast. When he asked why an angel was in his room, she giggled. _How cute, yet how unexpected._ She turned to leave so that he could get dressed as he grabbed her hand. He kissed her gently on the lips and hugged her as he whispered "Good morning" in her ear. She left and he dressed. The spend the rest of the day much as they had the day before, just talking and getting to know one another better. They learned things about one another that one would never learn in an environment such as school. Kyoya was genuinely pleased that he had done this. It was a great opportunity for their newly formed bond to strengthen. Well, at least he believed it was newly formed, or at least newly acknowledged.

After dinner that evening, they decided to take some time in the hot springs. They were informed that from the changing area, there were two options, one led to the gender divided bathing area, the other one in the middle, however was a mixed bath. Unfortunately for the young couple, the person explaining this detail was slightly dyslexic, and in explaining, switched the directions. Kyoya was the first to enter the mixed bath. No one else was around, and the bookings were quite sparse lately, so he didn't expect to see many people bathing tonight anyways. He had his back to the entrances when he heard another person come in. He turned around, and his jaw dropped. Even without his glasses on, he knew that figure. He recognized her voice when she gasped. Haruhi still had her contacts in, so she instantly recognized the figure of her senpai turned boyfriend. "Haruhi, is that you?"

"Ehh yes, I thought this was the women's bath."

"I guess the employee who told us about the mixed bath got it confused." He stood up from the bath, about to exit to move to the divided bathing area.

"I'm sorry. I'll leave," she states with a blush as she starts to turn around.

Kyoya steps out of the water, only to lose his footing and fall forward, onto Haruhi, pinning her underneath him. In the moments before he realized what was going on, he had succumbed to her beauty and heart-melting voice. The kiss lasted longer than either of them had realized; when they heard someone clearing their throat above them.

With a blush on both of their faces, they peer up to see a pair of employees standing above them. "My apologies, I mistakenly gave you the wrong directions, but it appears that you have learned this on your own. Please remember that this is open to all ossen visitors." As they left the mixed bath area, one was overheard saying, "Oh my, what a scene I just witnessed. I wish I could have been the one to be pushed down. He was HOT!" The other replied, "Didn't you know, that is one of the sons of the Otori family. They own this place."

Both blushing profusely now, they made their way into the respective bathing areas. A little old lady asked Haruhi if she was ok, and maybe she should get out soon since she was already fairly red. Haruhi could only smile as she explained that it wasn't the heat of the water, but rather an embarrassing memory that kept running through her head. The lady smiled back at her and told her, "Don't worry hon, what ever he did, or you did in front of him, will be either forgotten soon, or will be worthy of telling your grandkids. At least that was how it was the first time I visited an ossen with a suitor, who is now my husband of 53 years." They smiled at one another. Haruhi could only reply with a sigh.

After they bath, Kyoya lay on his futon, not sure of how to make the next move. Had he pushed her too far? She had not rejected the kiss, but what could she do, as he lay on top of her and they were both in nothing more than towels. He was restless now. He wanted her like that again. No, correction, he wanted her like that, but without the towel, and of her own desires instead of due to faulty footing. How could he have let this happen? Wasn't he supposed to be in total control? In her presence, and only in her presence, was a new person that Kyoya knew nothing about… the true Kyoya. His hosting abilities, his business savvy, his money, none of that meant anything when he was with her. He found himself saying and doing things that he never imagined himself saying or doing. What was this control that she had over him, and why was it only when they were alone? He wanted to see her, but was afraid of what would happen. Would she slap him; retreat from him; demand to be taken home immediately? In his heart was an emotion that he was very unfamiliar with. He had never known fear. He tried to calm his nerves, and decided to go get a drink. Surely coffee would only make his racing pulse worsen, but maybe some tea would do the trick. He stood up and headed down the hall. He grabbed an extra one to offer Haruhi as a peace offering.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter fourteen… In his heart was an emotion that he was very unfamiliar with. He had never known fear. He tried to calm his nerves, and decided to go get a drink. Surely coffee would only make his racing pulse worsen, but maybe some tea would do the trick. He stood up and headed down the hall. He grabbed an extra one to offer Haruhi as a peace offering.

**Chapter Fifteen**

As Kyoya walked down the hall with the teas in hand, his mind drifted to another time Haruhi and he had been involved in a water incident. Tamaki and his ridiculous costumes at the race for the Central Parlor during the school's festival his second year had caused Haruhi to nearly drown. He didn't realize his own motives at the time, but looking back, he knows now that the reason he told Tamaki to get the crown signifying the win while he saved her was to start to make his place in her heart. If the fool was more worried about winning than he was saving her, even though she had feelings for him at the time, maybe… just maybe he could start to carve a niche in her heart for himself. Although, he had to admit, that it made him look good in the chairman's eyes, to have Tamaki be the one to achieve victory for his team. He guessed it was a win-win-win situation after all since Tamaki got approval by his grandmother, Kyoya got approval from the school chairman, and he also started to open Haruhi's heart to allow him entry. But he was very grateful that Tamaki agreed and went for the win. It's the small things in life that make the biggest impact in the long run sometimes. Ironically, it was that same festival when his father finally agreed that he could choose his own partner as long as it was before he graduated. At that time, Kyoya's father had also said, "If he has the talent, well I don't mind naming my third son heir to the family business." Kyoya also found out later from Tamaki's father, that his own father was intrigued with Haruhi and considered her a fair match for his third son. One day, he would have to tell her that, but that story would need to wait until she agreed to marry him.

For now, he needed to assess where they stood. Would she forgive him for kissing her like that? I mean, they were only wearing towels and had been seen. Haruhi's innocence plagued him. How was she going to react? She had kissed him back, but she was pinned after all. Would she feel the same way now that she was not in that same awkward situation? Questions still ran through his mind, not ceasing. As he walked slowly towards her room, he saw something that shocked him. He turned the corner just in time to witness a man walking into Haruhi's room. His heart raced as his feet pulled him at an amazing rate towards the door just being closed. It was not like him to run like this, all composure lost. What was going on? He got to the door in an instant, but froze. Voices behind the closed door were loud enough that he could hear what was going on.

"…one hundred million yen to buy your services. That is a reasonable offer, if I do say so myself. All you would need to do is stay away from Otori Kyoya for any other purpose than school and club. That's it, nothing more. It's not so hard for a smart girl like you, right?"

"What gives you the right to waltz in here and start demanding anything of me, let alone throwing money around like its nothing? If it is as simple as you claim, what is to keep us from meeting in secret? What is it that makes you believe that money is the center of MY universe? I may go to Ouran High School, but I am on a scholarship. I am merely a commoner. That big bucked wheeling and dealing is beyond me. But most importantly, why? Why do you want me to stay away from Kyoya-senpai? What does my being near him have to do with anything else?"

"Look, you're a smart kid, so I am only going to say this once. You are not cut out to be with Otori. You've not got the breeding nor been raised in the correct environment to compete with the potential Omiai partners that his father will have lined up for him shortly. My boss knows this, and is willing to essentially buy your first place in line for omiai partnership. She wants the Otori kid for herself, both for business as well as her own personal desire."

"What boss is that? Who put you up to trying to rip us apart? And WHO in the hell thinks that she is important enough that no matter what she did to me, I would ever… EVER allow her to become number one after such actions as this?" Kyoya was angry as his eyes flashed with pure hatred. Haruhi had not even seen him slip in. Then he added, as if buying Haruhi off was not insulting enough, "And how much did she pay you? Because I will double it, if you will simply make sure that she never tries anything like this again. As long as she leaves Haruhi and I alone, I won't report you to the police."

The mysterious stranger who had been waiving obscene amounts of money at Haruhi was now following Kyoya back to his room so that he could write a check. Haruhi had not heard of the girl who had hired him to do such a deed, and she was pretty shocked by the whole thing. She slumped into a heap on the floor.

While dealing with the man who had been trying to come between the young couple, Kyoya learned who had put him up to this, as well as how she found out. It seems that one of the girls who was smitten with Kyoya had placed 24 hr surveillance on him as well as investigated Haruhi once their involvement together had been found out. He made his way back to Haruhi's room to check on her. The door was still open, and she was sitting exactly where she had been standing moments before. He knocked on the door frame for permission to gain entrance. When she didn't respond, he slowly walked towards her, not wanting to startle her. He knelt down and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Haruhi? Are you ok? Can I get you anything?" He remembered the teas he had been carrying earlier, they were still at the door where he dropped them when he heard what was going on. He retrieved them, opened one and tried to hand it to Haruhi, who was still stunned and not moving.

"Not that I would have taken it, because it goes against my principals, but that would have been enough to pay off the vase that I still owe the club as well as leave some left over for us to live on… or even start paying you back for finding dad for me." Haruhi's voice was barely over a whisper now in shocking contrast to the force she spoke with prior to him entering her room. You could hear the pride normally in her voice had waivered seriously. She finally looked up a little, and noticed the tea silently being offered to her. Taking the tea, she made her way back up to a stand, still visibly shaken. Kyoya escorted her over and sat her down, then sat next to her, comforting her as best as he could.

"Don't worry about the debts. The vase is essentially paid for, and as for debt incurred while I was looking for your father, that is something that we can deal with later. Don't worry about it. I'm not. I'm sorry that I put you through this. Please forgive me." He buried his face into her shoulder. "I'm so very sorry. I didn't know. Please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive you for. You didn't start this. Although, I have to say that I am not happy about you giving that man money. He didn't deserve it. I don't like you spending more money because of me. I already feel indebted to you for a lifetime. It's bad enough that the debt because of dad makes me feel like I will never be on equal footing with you. I… ," her eyes started to tear up and her breath was catching. "…I just wanted to, at some point, be on equal footing with you. So that we could see eye to eye…" her breath catching between words.

"Haruhi, we are on equal footing. I would never date someone that I didn't consider my equal… or better. Why would you think that we are not on equal footing? What gives you this idea? I don't see us, or this relationship, as even remotely allowed to be on differing levels. When it's just you and me, there is nothing and no one else. No club, no international Yakuza gang, no business, no school, no parents, no family, no nothing that is in our own little circle. It is just you and me only in our world, on equal footing. If I worried about anyone or anything else, then it wouldn't be worth it. It would be just like we were at school or something. I have to have my own world sometimes, to escape that other world, and Haruhi, you're my escape."

They continued to talk about future plans and how her plan to become a lawyer would finally bring her out of "commoner" status. He laughed, "Don't move to high up the ladder and bypass me. I can't let you be the only one wearing pants in the family because I don't look good in a skirt."

"Oh I don't know, those legs looked pretty sexy coming out of the hot springs earlier. Your footing, not so much, though," she chuckled as he blushed slightly.

They talked on throughout the rest of the evening. As with the night before, eventually her speech slowed to a stop. He laid her down and covered her up. As he got ready to stand and leave she grabbed him arm crying "don't go! Please!" Her eyes were closed and her brow furrowed.

"Ok, I'll stay for a little bit longer, but...."

"Don't leave me again. I won't make it if you do." she pleaded in her sleep. _How could anyone willingly leave you_, he thought to himself as he snuggled with her on top of the covers he'd just laid over her. Before he knew in, he was once again dreaming of their future together.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter fifteen… "Don't leave me again. I won't make it if you do." she pleaded in her sleep. _How could anyone willingly leave you_, he thought to himself as he snuggled with her on top of the covers he'd just laid over her. Before he knew in, he was once again dreaming of their future together.

**Chapter Sixteen**

He awoke to gentle kisses on his lips. Not wanting it to end, he endured and did not respond back until he could take no more. Still not opening his eyes, but remembering the morning prior, he expected to find her dressed and in his room. His hands went to her face and then stroked down her neck and to her back. He felt the rich feel of her yukata as she pressed against him. Then he remembered the night before when she wouldn't let him leave her room. He opened his eyes to find the two of them snuggled in her futon with her in his arms. He froze, unaware if she was truly awake on not. "Har....Haruhi? Are you awake?"

"Yes. It's only five in the morning, but you were chilly, so I covered us together to warm you up. I'm sorry, I overstepped the boundaries. I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

"Shh, there's nothing to forgive if you're not uncomfortable. Only be sorry if you don't care for me or if you made yourself uncomfortable. Mmmmm, I could lay like this forever, if you'd let me." As she pulled him closer, he snuggled into the crook of her neck, and fell asleep again.

After a few more hours of sleep, they woke up flushed from vivid dreams of the one wrapped in their embrace. And with a quick kiss on the cheek, Kyoya left for his room to dress for the day. The rest of the day, including the ride home, was filled with trying to figure out how to be together without letting on to their friends. It would not be an easy task.

When Kyoya walked Haruhi to her door, Ranka walked out and insisted the Kyoya come in for a moment. He spoke to the young couple about their friends. Tamaki and the twins had both woken Ranka several times over the weekend. It was explained to Haruhi's father about how neither teen wanted to hurt their friendships with the other club members, so their relationship would be kept a secret. Ranka, wanting to help, offered to go to the school during club hours and put a stop to unwanted visitors. He would tell them that they may only visit on certain days, claiming needing to work things out with his daughter uninterrupted. Kyoya would, of course, be the unspoken exception.

True to his word, Ranka showed up the next day during club hours and laid down the law. To emphasize his point, he threatened to remove his daughter from the club, or even the school, if his demands were not met. As if to reiterate his point, he took his daughter home before club was finished. Kyoya was grateful to him for it since the twins were hounding Haruhi about her weekend, and she looked as if she would break.

Minutes before he was packed up to leave club, Kyoya got a phone call from Ranka. The young man was expected to come keep his daughter company for dinner if he had no other plans. Ranka also stated that he'd like to know everyone's reaction to his scene today, but would be at work by then.

The schedule was set. Haruhi and Kyoya would be host free after club hours on Monday, Wednesday, every other Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Tuesday and Thursday plus alternating weekend (Saturday, and Sunday), Haruhi was free to spend time with everyone from the club. And on the free Fridays, Ranka could call Kyoya over if he felt like it, otherwise it was Ranka's day with his daughter alone. Haruhi thought that this worked out the best, and everyone agreed, even if they weren't privy to the whole story.

After club activities on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays the limo would pick up Haruhi as she walked towards the train station once they've made sure that none of their friends were watching. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, if the others wanted to come over or take Haruhi out for activities, it was up to her to ok them. Ranka had made sure that they hosts understood that he was not giving carte blanche for whatever they wanted to do, especially if it involved kidnapping his daughter. And because he would not let anyone know where she was the weekend prior to setting the schedule, he allowed them to start the alternating rotation of who got to spend the weekend with her. In the privacy of their own home, he admitted that he wasn't real happy about only getting one day every two weeks until she reminded him that at least she wasn't living in a dorm somewhere and he would see her nightly before he left for work. She had no intentions of leaving her father that soon. "And I hope that after what you've been through in the last year, you will open up to me and talk to me a little more. If I had known what was going on, maybe we could have come up with an alternative. Dad, you have to trust me, I am not a little kid anymore."


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter sixteen… In the privacy of their own home, he admitted that he wasn't real happy about only getting one day every two weeks until she reminded him that at least she wasn't living in a dorm somewhere and he would see her nightly before he left for work. She had no intentions of leaving her father that soon. "And I hope that after what you've been through in the last year, you will open up to me and talk to me a little more. If I had known what was going on, maybe we could have come up with an alternative. Dad, you have to trust me, I am not a little kid anymore."

**Chapter Seventeen**

With the schedule in place, and plans to avoid detection set, Kyoya threw his all into wooing his girlfriend. They talked about the future and various aspects of how their lives would change. Tentative plans were formed for college and possibly children, but nothing was ever "set in stone". Haruhi feared that one day, Kyoya would grow tired of his "commoner" girlfriend, so she was constantly hesitant about the future.

About three weeks before Kyoya and Tamaki's graduation, Kyoya sent Haruhi off to the store for supper so that he could speak to her father. When she returned, Kyoya left immediately, stating that he would be back in one hour. Ranka told her not to worry about supper as he would eat at the club. Then he gave her a box and asked her to please wear it that night when she and Kyoya went to dinner. He helped her get ready and put light makeup on. Before Kyoya returned and he had to leave for work, Ranka stood back and admired the beauty that stood before him. He turned to the photo of her mother on the altar and spoke to it, "We did it honey. We raised a stunning young lady despite the emotional mess that I was in after you left. Can you see her, Kotoko? Doesn't she make your heart stop? And you know what? I think that she may have found what you and I had. Although, I had to say, that I hope if she gets left, that she doesn't do what I did. It would be a shame for all men if she turned gay like her dear old dad."

Just then Kyoya knocked at the door. As Haruhi turned to answer it, Ranka told her to wait in the bedroom because he wanted to see Kyoya's expression when he saw her like this. She did as she was told, and Ranka let Kyoya into the house. He walked to his daughter's bedroom and escorted her to her date. Kyoya's jaw dropped, the façade unable to be kept up. As he put his daughter's hand into that of her suitor, Ranka's heart sunk and a tear ran down his face. He knew that she would be Kyoya's one day, and that thought both saddened him as well as delighted him. He knew that Haruhi's every need and want would be taken care of, but it also meant that he was losing his little girl. The child he had with the only woman he ever loved. The same little girl, who at 6 years old woke up before school every day to make bento for her father and herself.

Ranka watched Kyoya help Haruhi into the limo, knowing full well that he intended to ask her to marry him tonight. That was the reason he sent Haruhi to the store, so that he could have a few minutes alone with her father to ask for her hand in marriage. Ranka couldn't refuse. He wanted his baby girl to be happy, and she was when she was with Kyoya. He would be rich even if he didn't inherit his father's wealth and power, as he was just that kind of man. Kyoya would be able to provide for Haruhi everything that he had not been able to as a father. Now the only possible problem that Kyoya might face would be if she accepts. Haruhi could be kind of hardheaded sometimes. She would probably tell him that she would marry him but only after college. She insisted on being independent.

Ranka had other reasons for the mixed feelings that he was having. If Haruhi accepted, and informed the head of the Otori family that she would marry Kyoya, then he wouldn't have to accept and arranged marriage that he father set up. He had also told Ranka that if Haruhi married him, he would completely forgive their debt as a wedding present. If the truth was told, Ranka didn't care if she married him or not, as long as she was happy. He would find a way to pay the debt back if Haruhi wasn't going to be happy married to Kyoya. But as luck would have it, he felt that she truly loved her boyfriend. He locked the door and headed to work. He knew that when he returned home in the morning, there would be plenty to talk to Haruhi about.

Dinner was superb, as expected. Once again, Kyoya had set up a privacy barrier of roses. As the dinner progressed, the conversation would constantly be guided toward the future. After dessert was served, Kyoya stood and moved next to Haruhi. "Haruhi, I know that this may seem fast, but I don't feel I have any other option. I will be graduating in less than a month. I know that you still have another year of high school, and then more than four years of college to become a lawyer. I know that you don't want to be tied down until after you finished college, at least the first four years. I completely understand this, but Haruhi, I don't know if I can wait that long. Haruhi, would you please make me the happiest man on earth by promising that you will marry me after college? Please?" He pulled out a ring that was obviously worth more than everything else that Haruhi owns and drops to one knee. "Haruhi, would you please marry me? It doesn't have to be right away, but please agree to marry me. Please?" Shocked and not able to get the words out, she just nods. They hug and once the tingling wears off, finish their dessert.

As Kyoya walks his new fiancée home, she stops him before getting to the door and asks, "Kyoya, I was thinking. What about Renge? Wont she be devastated, since her would be otaku fiancée is getting married to someone else?" The look on his face was priceless. It took a moment for him to register that she had been kidding with him, but once he understood that, he grabbed her in his arms.

"Then, future Mrs. Otori, shall we really give her something to be jealous of?" And with that, he took her into his arms and kissed her fully and deeply and lasted for a while. Only when the neighbor came out of her apartment and commented, "ahh young love" did the pair pull apart. His plan was for her to confirm their marriage agreement at the party in two weeks in front of his father. With that, he would be free to marry her instead of having his father make an arranged marriage to benefit the company. He was sure that he, for the first time in his life, would get to do something of his own free will. He would marry for love, not merit. That wasn't true, he knew that. There would be an extensive amount of merit in his relationship with Haruhi.

The next two weeks went by as usual, with the exception of fact that Haruhi now constantly wore a necklace around her neck. The hosts never bothered to ask her about it, because she kept it tucked into her shirt. On that necklace was the engagement ring that she wore when she was alone with Kyoya or knew that the other hosts would not be around. Although she thought it was "a bit too much", she still couldn't help staring at it when she was alone. It was more beautiful than any ring that she had ever seen, and it wasn't too over-the-top, as she would have expected from one of the rich brats that she has grown to love. It had baguette cut sapphires surrounding a one caret diamond. The deep blue of the sapphires only made the diamond sparkle even more, she though.

The day before the party, Ranka, Fuyumi, and Kyoya all took Haruhi shopping for the perfect outfit to wear. It was a sight to see Ranka and Fuyumi fussing over the normally plain looking commoner girl, as her beauty had grown, and no one could call her plain looking anymore. In fact, Kyoya mused as he watched the spectacle going on, he didn't feel anyone could even accuse her of having commoner looks anymore either. Her two years as a host under Tamaki's "Gentleman's way" tutelage had refined her. She was no longer the same poor child that didn't care if anyone saw her as either a male or a female. When in host mode, she was a refined gentleman who knew how to entertain her guests with her natural smile. However, when she was dressed as a female, she was yet refined and polite lady worth of high society. She would have to pass his father's inspection, but he knew she could pass muster.

Fuyumi and Ranka found the perfect dress for Haruhi. Deep blue like the sapphires in her ring, with silver accents that brought out the ivory of her skin; slinky enough to be accent her figure without appearing sleazy. And with the silver hair accessories (because she still had not let her hair grow due to club guests still believed she was a boy) to pull it all together. When Haruhi showed Kyoya the final results, it took his breath away. It was truly the perfect outfit, and if their host club friends could see her like that, he would once again, have competition on his hands and he knew it. Well, he hoped that she wouldn't see it as competition, but he would have some very jealous friends at the least. He walked up behind her as she stood looking at the 3-way mirror, wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear, "It could be the most hideous thing in the world, and you would make it look ravishing. But I have to admit that my sister and your father have outdone themselves. I think this outfit could almost make Tamaki look dateable. There is no denying it, I will never let you go." He put butterfly kisses along the nape of her neck as she smiled. She didn't know if she was ready to face his father, after what happened her first year at the festival, but with Kyoya by her side, she could steal herself for anything.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter seventeen… "…I think this outfit could almost make Tamaki look dateable. There is no denying it, I will never let you go." He put butterfly kisses along the nape of her neck as she smiled. She didn't know if she was ready to face his father, after what happened her first year at the festival, but with Kyoya by her side, she could steal herself for anything.

**Chapter Eighteen**

The night of the party came, and Haruhi was pampered and primped at a local spa along with Fuyumi. She loved her baby brother, and wanted to see him happy. Haruhi was the one who could make him happy. When Kyoya and his date made their entrance to the party, all heads turned. Not because an announcement was made, and not because everyone wanted to see who the third son of the Otori family brought as a date. No, heads turned because of the sheer beauty that was on Kyoya's arm that night, and he knew it. He wanted to rush over directly and tell his father that she had agreed, but he was amongst a large number of business partners. He waited for a more appropriate time. When his eyes met his mother's, she smiled. Haruhi was nervous, and he could tell by the way she fidgeted. He tried to calm her nerves. "There is nothing to worry about. I only have one request from you when you finally speak to my father. Please tell him that we are engaged. Let him know that you have accepted my proposal. That's all. Once you tell him that, he will throw away all the folders currently sitting on his desk of omiai candidates. I know that he will find you as enchanting as I do. So relax."

As they made their way to his father, his sister followed behind for moral support. Unfortunately, what no one knew was that just prior to their appearance, one of the potential partners had addressed him about an arranged marriage between his daughter and Otori's third son. The potential business partner threatened to pull out of the business venture if he was not able to find a suitable marriage partner for his daughter who had been out of high school for a year now. The head of the Otori family let his potential partner know that he would not be bullied into marrying off his son just for business, but the encounter had set his in a foul mood. Not the time for a timid young girl to face the bullheaded head of the family.

Kyoya re-introduced Haruhi to his father, who immediately set out to make things miserable. If he had to be threatened, then surely this girl who wanted to be part of this family needed to be able to handle herself in a similar situation. He tore into her like a bulldog into a prime steak, questioning her motives as well as her ability to handle herself. As if she wasn't nervous enough, this only made it worse. She did her best to stand firm, but he was relentless. Kyoya could do nothing, because if Haruhi could not handle his father alone, there would be no help for her. His father would not allow him to marry someone who could not handle stress, do he had to bite his lip and hope for the best.

"So, do you have intentions on getting your hooks into my son anytime soon?" the senior Otori railed at her.

"Eh, ye… er I don't like the implications of how you put that. Would you explain what you mean by getting my 'hooks' into him?"

"Well obviously he plied you with gifts, judging from the ring on your left hand. What more are you going to ask him for?"

"I didn't ask him for this. He chose to gift me with this when he asked me to marry him."

"So you are trying to get your hands on the Otori fortune. How sly."

"No sir, I couldn't care less about your money. I just love Kyoya." She looked to Kyoya for assistance, but he kept his mouth shut.

"You love him? HA! More like you love what he can do for you. Aren't you the one that spent an excessive amount of money to help late last year?"

"That has nothing to do with my feelings for him."

"Feelings? What do they have to do with the real world? In this life you get nothing by playing with feelings. They do not help to move you forward in life. That's enough." He turned from the girl to his son, "The morning after your graduation next week, I will expect you in my office to review Omiai partners. That is, if you want any say at all in the choice. This little charade is over. Send her home now." And with that, he walked away.

Kyoya immediately turned towards the door and escorted Haruhi home. They were silent the whole way. It wasn't until she was about to exit the limo at her apartment that she finally asked if he was serious. Kyoya just nodded. "I can't go against my dad. I don't know what happened tonight. I… I'm sorry. Haruhi, I didn't want it to turn out this way. I'm sorry." He dropped his head into his hands as she started to cry. The door opened, and before he could grab her, she bolted out and up the stairs to her apartment. Kyoya followed her, but Ranka wouldn't let him in after seeing his daughter like that.

The next week, club activities were canceled due to final exams. Haruhi ate lunch by herself, even though Tamaki, Kyoya and the twins usually ate with her in the lunch room. She couldn't face Kyoya, and was successful in completely avoiding him until graduation ceremony. He caught her hand as everyone was leaving, and pulled her into a private area.

"Haruhi, please…"

"Please what, senpai? You are only doing what your father wants, right? Here, I had really hoped that I wouldn't see you today, but since I did, I don't have to deliver it to your house." She handed Kyoya the ring he had given her three weeks earlier. "I can't keep it. That would just make me into what your father thinks that I am anyways. I don't want that. And as for the debt, I will start repaying you as soon as I can get a job. It will be a while, since I am not allowed to work while I am still a student here. So if you can wait one year without doubling the debt due to interest that would be just grand." She turned and walked away from a very stunned Kyoya.

"What was that about?" asked Tamaki when she rounded the corner.

"What do you mean?"

"What does Kyoya's father have to do with anything between any of the hosts, and what did you give him? I couldn't see, but obviously it was something you didn't want to have to give him at his house."

"It was the engagement ring that he gave me, and his father has something to do with it because he didn't agree to the engagement, so Kyoya called it off. I'm sorry senpai, but we have been hiding our relationship for the last 5 months, since he found my dad. We didn't want you to feel hurt. Now I wish I had just told him no, that if he couldn't face you, then I wouldn't go face his dad. I just… I'm sorry senpai. I'm … " Haruhi broke down and started crying. The twins showed up just as Tamaki was comforting her.

"That's sexual harassment!" they yelled, mocking him as always.

Tamaki ignored them, which is very unlike him, and continued to comfort Haruhi. That's when the twins realized that something was going on, and also offered comfort. Not to long after that, Huni and Mori also showed up. They decided to go to out together one last time as a host club so that they could all spend time with Haruhi and help her through what ever it was that was making her cry. Huni said, "I'll go get Kyo-chan."

Tamaki replied, "If you dare talk to that bastard I'll kill you. He's the one that caused Haruhi to cry like this. He may be my best friend, but right now I don't want to see him. Not after what I just heard." This shocked everyone there, but they let it go. Tamaki was never one to be so stern so they didn't want to mess with him.

As they all ate, Haruhi explained what had happened over the last 5 months. She explained that she never wanted to hurt her friends, but Kyoya had been insistent that they not tell anyone.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter eighteen… As they all ate, Haruhi explained what had happened over the last 5 months. She explained that she never wanted to hurt her friends, but Kyoya had been insistent that they not tell anyone.

**Chapter Nineteen**

Through out the break, the hosts kept Haruhi company, except Kyoya, who couldn't bring himself to contact her. He couldn't watch her cry again because of him. As the new school year started, the twins brought her the bad news that the host club was to disband. She had known this would happen as soon as Tamaki and Kyoya left. In a way she was grateful. A new program was also implemented in the school. It was one that allowed internships instead of club activities.

The new program was exactly what she needed to get her foot in the door. She found an internship at a law firm. It was the much needed break from having nothing to do which allowed her mind to wander back to the times she had with Kyoya. She decided that with the internship, she would start her life new. It was a good start. The twins didn't like it much because that meant that she had less time for them, but they still got to see her at school so they didn't complain too much.

She also made a point to meet with Huni and Mori for coffee once a month or so. She didn't want the friendship to end just because they could no longer go to the host club. Tamaki also made a point to spend time with her fairly often. They met for coffee about twice a month. Other than that, she kept very busy with her job at the law firm. In short time, the firm was so thoroughly impressed with her, that she was invited to functions and increasingly more important meetings. Things were going well for her, and she started to attend school as a female. This caught the attention of many of the males in school, but they couldn't get close to her as the twins would drive them off. Not that Haruhi minded, she was still heart-broken. The twins didn't push her, but offered to be there for her if she needed them, just as they had always been. But, they still insisted on dragging her to their home about once a month for a weekend of pampering and fashion play, as they called it. They usually sent her home with clothes that they had designed for her. She didn't complain too much, because it provided her a wardrobe for her internship, and she was grateful.

Kyoya, however did not take the heart-break as well. He sulked in his room for at least the next month after graduation. When his father handed him portfolios of potential partners, he would look at them only half heartedly, then mumble that none of them were Haruhi and toss them back onto his father's desk. After witnessing this, his mother made a point to talk to her husband that night. The next day, Kyoya is called into his father's office.

"I'm not pleased with what I am seeing. You need to be serious here if you want a say in your marriage partner. But… at your mother's insistence, I will give you some time to mend your broken heart. You have one year. One year from your graduation date to get over her and start looking seriously at these portfolios. This is not child's play anymore son. You have to knuckle down and get involved in the real world, even if you are in college still."

"I understand, Father. Thank you." It was the best he could do and he knew it. He knew that his mother and sister had adored Haruhi as well, and had hoped that they would talk to his father on her behalf. It didn't appear so. He had to forget Haruhi, which wouldn't be easy. To make it a little easier to forget, he contacted Ranka. He offered to allow Ranka, interest free, to not make a payment until he was married. If he didn't receive payments from Ranka, then he didn't have to face the desire to call and hopefully speak to Haruhi. Nothing more is said regarding the former relationship.

For Haruhi, throwing herself into her work both at school and her internship was only a small time that she didn't have available to think about Kyoya. But she did her best to make it through. She became a great success at work, and was invited into some amazing meetings with some truly amazing clients. Her social network was developing at an astonishing rate. One of the meetings that she attended, the firm's client was being bought out by Otori Company. For the first time since the party when he told her that she could not be with Kyoya, Haruhi faced the man that she felt ruined her happiness. It brought back a flood of memories and emotions, but she was able to keep it in check during the meeting. After the work was done, they spoke briefly. He sniped that she apparently was taking the breakup better than his own son was.

"No sir, I'm not. I learned a lot from Kyoya-san during the time that we dated. One of the things that I learned was to keep personal life and business life separate. My work here is completely unrelated to my social life. Not that I have one, I guess I should say lack of. This is a job, so I am not able to afford to let them see me cry. I save that for my pillow at night. My father, however would probably be the first to tell you that you, sir, have ruined too many lives… mine being one of them. I hope that Kyoya is well. Despite how we broke up, I still love him and wish him well." With that last statement, tears started to form so she excused herself to the restroom to freshen up.

Once business was concluded, a dinner party is planned for all parties involved. Due to her diligent work on the project, the law firm included Haruhi in the party. Although everyone else brought a spouse or date, she attended the function alone. Kyoya's mother instantly recognized the girl as the one who her son had been so devoted to while in high school. Seeing that she is alone, Mrs. Otori spoke with her. Haruhi learned how devastated that Kyoya was by his father's decision, but couldn't bring himself to go against his father. Unwillingly, Haruhi tells Kyoya's mother about the heartbreak that she has been through, herself. A mother knows heartbreak in a child, even if it isn't her own child. She can see the truth in the girl's words and in her eyes.

That night in bed, Kyoya's parent talk about their love, and about the love their son still has towards the amazing little girl who just blew their socks off in negotiations against Otori Company. If she were to be an Otori, and work for the Otori Company as a corporate lawyer, imagine what she could do for them. In was just a start, but Kyoya's mother wanted her son to be happy. If manipulating her husband into believing that he was the one that chose Haruhi as his son's bride, then so be it. He let out a huge sigh, and told his wife to go talk to the girl's parent. But he wanted to keep it a secret from his son for now. When asked why, he replied, "I made the mistake of taking my son's happiness away from him once. I want to surprise him by giving it back to him. I don't usually make these kinds of concessions when choosing a marriage partner for my children, so please just do this for me. I know it's not my idea to get these two kids together, but I will let you believe you got me to think that it is, if you will just let me do this one thing my way. Ok?"

His wife softly chuckled, kissed her husband tenderly, and said "ok."

The next day Kyoya's mother is on the phone with Ranka and schedules a meeting with him. As she talks to the doting father, she learns more about the girl that she hopes will be her daughter-in-law. Haruhi's ability to adapt and the obstacles that she has overcome in her life astound and impress the lady. The parents agree that if they can get Haruhi to agree, it would be set up as a surprise. Ranka explains that he is reluctant to allow this because Kyoya has already hurt his daughter once and she still had not recovered completely. He doesn't want to see that ever happen again. She agreed, that after getting to know Haruhi better, she doesn't ever want to see the girl hurt again either.

The plan is set. Ranka tells his daughter that because she was still in school, an offer of marriage has come to him. The offer for marriage includes covering the entire debt to Kyoya, as well as paying for her schooling so that she can still become the lawyer that she wants to be. It wasn't a complete lie, he just didn't tell her who made the offer or that part of the offer was in the past. Haruhi, having given up on the idea of love, agreed to the arrangement to save her father financially. When Haruhi agrees without asking for more information or picture, Ranka feels a little concerned except for the fact that he knew that his daughter really did love Kyoya. Both partners are told that the other requested to not meet until the party announcing their engagement.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter nineteen… Haruhi, having given up on the idea of love, agreed to the arrangement to save her father financially. When Haruhi agrees without asking for more information or picture, Ranka feels a little concerned except for the fact that he knew that his daughter really did love Kyoya. Both partners are told that the other requested to not meet until the party announcing their engagement

**Chapter Twenty**

Kyoya and his parents talk over dinner a few nights before the deadline given to "get over" his heartache. Despite the timing, the senior Otori states that in order to arrange the marriage to who he and his wife believe to be the perfect wife to their third son, they have to press the date for the arrangement a little. With a stern look, he informs his youngest son that a few days shouldn't make a difference in recovery. The engagement needed to be announced before the end of the week, or the parent of the girl would take another offer that was on the table for their daughter's hand in marriage. "This is not a deal that can be overlooked. I cannot allow your feelings to step in the way on this matter. This engagement will be announced before she graduates from High School on Friday. Therefore, I expect you to be there and ready at the party on Thursday night. Do you understand me, son?"

Without looking, Kyoya agreed. His mother, feeling that she needed to give him a reason to smile even if it was forced, said "The business benefits aside, she is quite beautiful and has the most enchanting smile, when I last saw her real smile. I do hope that you are able to bring it out of her, and her bring out yours as well." But Kyoya couldn't smile. In fact, tears formed in his eyes as he remembered his sister saying the same thing about Haruhi's smile. His heart started hurting again, but what could he do. He couldn't go against his father's wishes.

The engagement party takes place the night before Haruhi's high school graduation. Kyoya and his parents circulate through the crowd, as he makes no attempt to try figuring out who is future bride is. Oddly enough, he does notice that his friends from the Host Club are there, and extremely joyful except Tamaki. Tamaki looks like his goldfish just died. Although he feels as if he really didn't give a damn, Kyoya is slightly amused by the fact that the bride-to-be and her family had not made an appearance yet. He glances towards his parents and sees a ravishing beauty that seems very familiar making her was towards his parents, hugging them both. Motioning for someone to come over, Kyoya follows the beauty's view, he glances over to see what he can only assume is yet another ravishing beauty, and the first's daughter enthusiastically hugging the Host club members. Well, of course his father set him up with someone from Ouran High School, because they were the elite, after all. Assuming that it was probably time to suck it up, he made his way to his parents, not looking at his host/friends or his bride-to-be.

When Kyoya reached where his parents had been, his mother drags him off into another room. "We figured that the first meeting should be done away from prying eye... But I guess that this isn't really the first time." As they walk in, the person speaking to his father said "I'll go get her." and walked out. Kyoya and his parents had their backs to the door when the pair entered and made their way to the seating area. It was then that the bride-to-be froze in mid-step and gasped as she recognized the groom-to-be's father. Turning towards the sound, Kyoya's jaw dropped. Ranka, who Kyoya finally recognized as the "beauty" encouraged his daughter to go greet her future husband and his family, as well as her benefactor.

Kyoya can only stare at first. "What is the meaning of this, father. Are you trying to rub it in that I have suffered from the most humiliating defeat? Showing me the dream that I failed to obtain on my own? The only thing... No the only recognition that I ever cared to gain on my own, without using your name or power? And Haruhi, do you truly hate me? Have you come to flaunt that my elite status could not get me the only thing that I truly desired... Your love?" Kyoya's mother tried to get him to shut up and listen.

Tears poured down Haruhi's face as she slapped her father. "I agreed to an arranged marriage for your benefit, so why would you put me through this? You know better than anyone the pain I went through when Kyoya left. You held me as I cried myself to sleep for the better part of last year, so why would you agree to marry me off to the man that caused those tears?"

"Tears? Y-y-you cried because of me?" came a low husky voice that could always make her heart melt.

"Of course, who wouldn't? You stole my heart and whisper sweet nothings about forever, and then threw me aside like COMMONER TRASH. I was a damn fool for falling for a 'forever host' like you." she started, and although he tried to ask her a question she kept going. "I was never anything more than your pawn from the day I had the 8 million yen debt thrust upon me, and then the 37 billion yen debt. I should have known that the only thing that you will ever love was money. I was never your girlfriend, I was a way to make or save you more money" she was really on a roll, and NO ONE has going to interrupt. "Even now, instead of waiting until I've become of greater value than the mere 37 billion, you snatch me up with promises of eliminating my debts now... And then when my value has increased as a high level lawyer, you will have me on your side automatically. You won't leave the chance of me besting you in court thus costing you money."

Kyoya's father busts a gut, laughing. His wife tried to silence him, to no avail. "The first arranged marriage that I have bothered with that won't earn direct benefit, yet... Oh this is unbelievable! Kyo-kun, she really is a handful! I may demand this marriage just for the entertainment value. But what is this about a 37 billion yen debt? I know nothing about it."

Ranka spoke up finally, "I owe your son 37 billion yen. I lied to Haruhi, I told her that the debt would be eliminated if she went through with this arrangement. I only said that to get her here though. I still intend to pay my debts, Kyoya-kun. If you made my daughter happy again, I would gladly pay 10 times that amount. Normally, Haruhi is the one who only thinks of others... I just want this to be my turn to take care of her. She's taken care of me when she was only a child. It's her turn to be cared for."

"So can I get a chance now? Seeing as no one will let me speak…" a smooth husky voice comes from behind the men who were both filling the roll of dutiful parent.

Kyoya steps from behind the two older gentlemen. "I've let you have a say... My turn, so all of you, please sit." Everyone sat down, except Haruhi. "Sit!" he barked since she remained standing.

"Is your next command going to be 'roll-over'?" snaps Haruhi. "I'll stand."

Kyoya let out a heavy sign, and then turned to his father first. "First, no matter how much I respect you, I will not stand by as you call the only woman I have ever loved 'entertainment'. And yes, Ranka is indebted to me for 37 billion yen. If you remember, you allowed me until I graduated from high school to find my own bride... I asked Haruhi to marry me and she had accepted. She was, and still is the only woman who has ever meant something to. With the obvious exception of you, Mother, of course," ever the diplomat Kyoya turned to his mother. Then turning to Haruhi, he puts one finger over her mouth as if to silence her, "Before you say anything, just listen because I have too much to say. First, you need to understand that everything I am saying is the absolute truth from my heart, no mention of merit or money. I don't know when it started, but I love you. When we dated last year, I was not playing with your feelings. Well, I say that, but truth is that I was on a time schedule. I only had until graduation to get you to agree to marry me. Otherwise, Dad was going to choose a candidate. I never wanted to let you go, but when my father and you faced off, he told me that you and I were through. It killed me. I didn't want to continue living after being told that Dad had found a partner for an arranged marriage. In attempts to convince you to marry me, I played an underhanded trick that backfired. I told Ranka that if you married me, I'd forgive the debt accrued when he was missing. I expected him to try to goad you into accepting my proposal. Honestly, I wanted you so badly that I didn't care if it was underhanded, but I also didn't expect Ranka to keep quiet. Haruhi, you have to understand, I couldn't go against my dad, but I also couldn't make you do something that you didn't want to. I wanted you to be mine out of love, not obligation." Tears began falling. Haruhi never opened her mouth, but continued to listen silently. Kyoya continued on, "I have never stopped loving you. I don't care who father makes me marry, only you will ever have my heart." With that said, he took a still speechless Haruhi into his arms and kisses her ever so gently on the lips.

Behind the kissing couple, they heard clapping. Kyoya's mother was standing next to her husband, clapping. "Okay, now that everyone else has had a turn, it's time to finalize this and return to the party." She gave her husband a kiss on the cheek, "Dear, you arranged the other children's marriages, this one is mine, so not another word. And also, before you call her entertaining again, might I remind you of who spilled an entire gallon of honey on my father the day we meet for the omiai?" She chuckled as she kissed her husband's cheek again, then turned to Ranka, "I don't have any knowledge of your debt to my son, but if this is what it takes to resolve this, then so be it. I will personally pay the debt as my wedding gift. In addition to her college tuition and expenses, I will also supply you with a small fund to make sure that your expenses are met without putting a burden on OUR beautiful daughter." As she gives Ranka's hands a squeeze. Then turning next to her son, "Try as you might, you can't hide behind your glasses from your mother. The very first day that the name Fujioka Haruhi was ever mentioned, there was a spark in your eyes, even if you didn't recognize it yourself. I sat idly by as you father forced you to turn your back on her, but when I saw your eyes show that you soul was dying, I couldn't stay quiet any longer."

Kyoya's mother then forcibly stepped between her son and the young lady whom she was about to focus on, "Haruhi, dear, first of all, as the only two women in here... No offence Ranka-san... I have much to tell you so listen closely. I am sorry for any trouble that my boys have given you. Please accept my humble apology. I cannot force you to accept this proposal, but I can give you a few suggestions. The first one would be to count up every tear that an Otori man has made you cry, not the number of times but the number of individual tears, then take than number and make my son repay each one by making you smile. Better yet, make him pay you back ten-fold, much like he did your debt for that silly vase in high school. Although he is not worthy, please make him into a man who will truly rival his father. And I say this because his father could have married him off to one of dozens of empty headed daughters of bank moguls, but my loving husband wanted our youngest son to be happy. Please don't refuse. Make my son as good of a man as his father."

Kyoya walks over to the fireplace and grabs the sword displayed above it. He steps to his father and whispers something in his ear. The senior Otori fishes something out of his breast pocket and hands it to his son. Kyoya then moves back to in front of Haruhi and gently moves his mother aside, "I don't care any more if this was done as a stab or not. And I am going to take Mother at her word, so Haruhi... Please end my suffering. Haruhi, please marry me. And if you won't marry me, then end it another way because I don't want to go another day without you. If you won't marry me, then press this sword through my chest... It will hurt less." He held the sword pointed at his chest with his hand holding the blade almost at the hilt, kneels down on one knee, and offers a small velvet covered box in his other hand.

Haruhi steps back and says, "Will you put that damn thing down before you kill me."

Ranka pops off, "The dangerous end is pointed at Kyoya."

"I know that, but if anything happened to him, it would kill me!"

"So, does that mean..."

"It means put that damn thing down so that I can hug my fiancée!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. The only exceptions are the following characters, which to my knowledge are not based on any current characters in the manga or anime: Otori Takeshi, Otori Sakura, Huninodzuka Ten, or Sukiko (family name unknown – soon to be Morinodzuka). **

**Disclaimer part two: I know that it went way OOC on this one. Sorry. I had serious writer's block and was so stumped, I tried the best I could. I hope it doesn't disappoint.**

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter twenty… "It means put that damn thing down so that I can hug my fiancée!"

**Chapter Twenty One**

With everyone agreeing that this marriage should take place and the details left to be tended to after Haruhi's graduation the next day, both families returned to the party and made their announcement. Haruhi wore the ring the Kyoya's parents had chosen, but she agreed only after Kyoya promised to return the ring he had designed specifically for her at their first attempt at an engagement. The former members of the host club were, of course, the first to rush to the happy couple with greetings of congratulations. Tamaki, of course, made way to big of a deal over 'mother and daughter' marrying. Hikaru, albeit a little depressed that Haruhi would not be joining the Hitachiin family, began a heated discussion with Kaoru about how they would design Haruhi's wedding gown. Huni-senpai offered to introduce the couple to the best bakers, who would offer great services at a discount with the mention of his name as he was their best and most regular customer. The only former host club member who steered clear of interacting with the couple while they were together was Morinodzuka Takashi. He stood with Haruhi and Huni when Kyoya was not around, but would disappear as soon as Kyoya rejoined his bride-to-be.

As the evening wore on, those attending the Otori business gathering left, leaving the youth to their celebration. Mori-senpai pulled Kyoya aside near the end of the evening and more words than Kyoya thought possible coming from Mori-senpai, threatened him with a far worse fate that death if he ever hurt Haruhi again as he did the year before. He didn't care who was at fault, be it Kyoya, his father, or the man in the moon... If Haruhi was hurt once again by Kyoya, there would be hell to pay. But this time he would do as he felt that Otori had done to the whole host club and take Haruhi from him. Kyoya knew that Mori-senpai could get very serious if he was so moved. He also knew that Mori-senpai still cared for Haruhi. To hear the man often referred to as a gentle and silent giant string together a threat as long as he did, Kyoya was not fool enough to think that Mori's words were mere threats, instead of promises of pain to come if he dared to mistreat THE OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB'S beloved Haruhi. As the two men parted ways, a still shell-shocked Kyoya made his way to his bride-to-be to escort her home. He reminded her of her impending graduation since he didn't think she would believe him if he told her about the conversation he just had... No one would believe him, as it was way too out of the norm for their silent friend to rattle of such imposing and threatening promises for as long as he did.

The next day, Haruhi and the Hitachiin twins graduated, and all of the final details of the so-called arranged marriage were hammered out. Mrs. Otori, true to her word, gave Ranka a small trust fund to help them get by so that Haruhi would not have to work while in school as well as worked out an agreement with Kyoya to neutralize the debt incurred during Ranka's captivity. All that was left was to plan the ceremony and reception, since no Otori would dare to marry without all the pomp and circumstance that went along with a high society wedding.

It was a scaled back affair with only a thousand invitations sent out... Not the two thousand seven hundred that Kyoya's father originally wanted. White roses lined the aisle as Haruhi's attendants lead the way towards the front of the cathedral. Two of Haruhi's middle school friends, Renge, Fuyumi, and Haruhi's new friend from college stood wearing identical Hitachiin gowns each in a different pastel hue, and each one matching the cummerbund of one of the former host club members acting as groomsmen, with Tamaki as best man, of course. Ryoji (Ranka) wore a tux as he escorted his daughter down the aisle while the whole world stopped and time stood still. Well, at least it felt that way to Kyoya when he caught the first glimpse of what was his whole world. The amazing gown co-designed by the mother and sons team of Kaoru, Hikaru, and 'Momma' Hitachiin would have been enough to take the breath away from the average person, but what took away the breath of every male at the alter was the vision of grace and beauty that was wearing the captivating gown. Although they all loved her in their own ways even when she dressed as a boy, even the one who was already married thanks to an arranged marriage by his parents, to see her like that... Brought most of the men to tears. How could their club sweetheart be marrying the Shadow King? As Haruhi and her father made their way to the alter, Tamaki started to go to receive her until he felt a strong hand on his right shoulder. "I believe she's here for me." Kyoya whispered to his friend as he tugged Tamaki back into position as best man and moved forward to take the hand being offered.

The spectacular event went off as planned and no one heard the amended vow except the bride, groom, attendants, and parents. Amazingly enough, no one heard the stifled giggles when the priest said, "... for richer or poorer; in sickness and in health; for merit or not; until death do you part." Kyoya tried to glare down at Haruhi when it was said but she just smiled, and he was too much in love to really care. He had been defeated by her long before this point and he knew it. The reception had all the groomsmen pulling out their hosting skills, and that had all the ladies swooning.

Kyoya and Haruhi made their grand exit, leaving their friends to keep the party going. It would be years later, at Haruhi's graduation from law school, before the couple learned that it was their wedding where Kaoru and Hikaru found the only other women they would grow to love, wearing their designs no less. It was funny how Haruhi's commoner friends from middle school infiltrated the host club circle. The foursome would have announced their double wedding at the graduation celebration, but they decided not to steal Haruhi's spotlight, since it was her who brought them all together. Tamaki had also settled down and married by that time as well.

Often, the Otori's invited the host club over, so as to never lose touch with their friends. At one such dinner, as they walked to the dinning room Mori pulled Kyoya aside and said, "Know this, my friend, my promise to you that I made at your engagement announcement still stands, no matter what my marital status is. Oh and that goes for the kids as well." As they were about to be seated, young Otori Takeshi grabbed Mori's hand.

"Uncle Mori, sit by me please."

"No, he said last time he'd sit by Sakura." countered an even younger Otori Sakura.

"I'm sorry children, but Uncle Mori is sitting by Mommy tonight. I hear that despite getting married next month, he's been telling your daddy that he's going to take us away if Daddy messes up again. So go sit by Uncle Huni and Aunt Ten... But no sweets until you've eaten the main course." Haruhi turned her attention back to Mori. "You can stop worrying about us. If we weren't in love, do you think that I would be... Dare I say it... Pregnant with a third Otori offspring?" She tiptoed to give her friend a kiss one the cheek. "It's been twelve years already, Takeshi. I love you for looking out for me, but I'm not going to let Kyoya off the hook that easily. Go, be happy in your marriage to Sukiko-san. She seems to truly love you the way Kyoya and I love each other."

With that, the last bachelor of Ouran High School's infamous Host Club settled in and settled down. He was still missing a small piece of his heart, but he was okay with it. He was no different than any of the other men who once belonged to the Ouran High School Host Club. The one lone female member held a little piece of each of their hearts. They all knew that they were safe in her hands. So I guess you could say it wasn't really missing after all.


	22. Alternate ending chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

Previously in chapter seven… Since, for the last 6 months, Kyoya had not been one of the ones who had taken Haruhi home in the evening, thus missing out on the chance to dine with her, he chose to spare no expense for tonight's homecoming dinner for Haruhi's father. On the way to the restaurant, they stopped and purchased appropriate dining apparel for both Haruhi and Ranka.

**Chapter Eight**

They arrived at the restaurant, and were promptly seated, as Ranka made a comment about how the Otori name must carry more weight that he realized. Kyoya simply smirked. They ordered and were left with a bottle of the best champagne. While they waited for their meal, Ranka explained to both Haruhi and Kyoya what had transpired. It seems that Ranka's (now former) lover and (supposedly) silent partner in the bar had been borrowing excessively large amounts of money from the wrong type of people, supposedly for the bar. Truth was, that he was socking it away to leave Ranka and run away with another lover that he had on the side, leaving Ranka with all the debt. While he has a tendency to spend money frivolously, he still knows how to run his bar, and the first time the loan sharks started coming around, Ranka put his bar in Haruhi's name. That's how he was able to pay the rent and provide her food money even though he was gone. Since the bar couldn't be taken as it was no longer in Ranka's name, they took Ranka to work as their slave. It was a fairly large operation, who hid their tracks well, and that's why it took Otori investigators over 6 months to find him.

There food was served, but they continued to talk. Only this is where Kyoya took over. He explained that when the Host club sat Haruhi down last Friday, is when he got the call that they thought that they had found Ranka, but they weren't sure of the condition he was in. Kyoya immediately left to go negotiate his release. Kyoya explained that he basically had to buy the debt that had been thrust upon Ranka. It was not until early that morning that he had finished negotiations, and paid the lofty sum. Ranka was now "owned" by Kyoya for 37,002,750,000 yen. Both Kyoya and Ranka knew that the bar that Ranka ran was not worth that much. Well, let's face it, even Haruhi knew that much. But to pay that back, both she and Ranka would be working for Otori for the rest of their natural lives. This was just too much for Haruhi to hear right now, so she excused herself to go to the bathroom. She started to cry… not because of the amount of debt, per se, but more so because of who the debt was too. She wanted to be on an equal footing with her Senpai once she got her law degree. She was tired of being a commoner in the eyes of her friends. But how could she face them as equals if she was 37 billion yen indebted to one of them? She cleared her mind, washed her face, and headed back to the dinner table.

When Haruhi returned to the table, it was suspiciously quiet, and Kyoya had his laptop out. He was frantically typing away, mumbling to himself as he worded and reworded a business proposal. Kyoya looked up from his work, over the top of his laptop at Haruhi who was sitting directly across from him. She could have sworn that she saw a smile, before he dropped his gaze back to his work. Oh well. After dinner, Kyoya suggested that they call the rest of the Host club for dessert to celebrate. He still had a little bit of work to do on the document that he was working on, and it was of the utmost importance, priority one. If they called the other members, he should have time to get it finished before everyone got there and got served, in order for him to join the party. Haruhi didn't really want the twins or Tamaki around just yet, but not being able to tell that to Kyoya, she just sighed and started calling the twins, who would spread the word.

They rest of the Hosts showed up ordering many, many desserts. The banter was light, and everyone, in turn, commented on how happy they were to see Haruhi's real smile come back again. Ranka was oddly silent every time someone mentioned the debt, and a few jabs were made at Haruhi about how much she and her father were alike… only difference being 8 million vs. 37 billion in debt. That caused Haruhi to cringe. Again, she knew that she and her father would never be able to pay that amount off, no matter how hard they tried. Finally, Kyoya pulled a flash drive off of his computer and handed it to the waiter, asking him to print it out. Then he closed his laptop, and smiled. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile. Another comment was made to Haruhi about how she would be working for the Otori instead of the Host club until she was one hundred and fifty. Kyoya simply looked at her and said, "Don't worry, we've worked something out. But we can talk about that later. Just enjoy yourself tonight."

The waiter returned with Kyoya's printout, which he promptly verified and placed the second printout in Ranka's hands. After Ranka skims over the papers, he hands them back to Kyoya and tells him that they can finalize this later in the week, or so.

As it nears midnight, Haruhi reminds everyone that they all have school in the morning. Everyone bids a fond farewell. Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai offer Ranka and Haruhi a ride home, to which Ranka readily accepts. He does not want to keep Kyoya any longer, as he had not been home in several days.

Huni-senpai bubbled the whole way, telling Ranka how they had taken care of Haruhi in his absence. He included the time that he lectured Haruhi about allowing him to help her. Haruhi mostly let her hyper senior do most of the talking, occasionally injecting with a tidbit here and there as he left parts out, all the while smiling as she hadn't in what seemed like forever. Mori-senpai sat quietly watching over everyone, but mostly looking at Haruhi, basking in her radiant smile.

Once they got to their destination, the pair made their way into their home. He hadn't realized how much he had missed the simple things in life. He had known beyond a shadow of a doubt that he missed and loved his daughter. His home, albeit simple, was also a source of strength, as was the shrine to his late wife. He was grateful to be home. Haruhi took her bath first since she still had to get some sleep before school in the morning, and Ranka knew that he would want to take an extremely long time soaking. Everything felt right, and it was easy to slip right back into normal life. Or so they thought at that point. But alas, nothing ever stays the same and Ranka knew this. He only hoped that the changes they were in for would be good ones. With a sigh, he made some tea to relax while Haruhi took her bath and prepared for bed.


	23. Alternate ending chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

**Previously in chapter eight: **Everything felt right, and it was easy to slip right back into normal life. Or so they thought at that point. But alas, nothing ever stays the same and Ranka knew this. He only hoped that the changes they were in for would be good ones. With a sigh, he made some tea to relax while Haruhi took her bath and prepared for bed.

**Chapter Nine**

The next morning, Haruhi woke and made their breakfasts. As she rushed out of, she was greeted by the sight of the two seniors who had given her a ride home the night before. "Hey Haru-chan! We came to give you a ride to school. I hope we're not too late." Huni-senpai shouted at her as he started to climb out of the limo and she made her decent down the stairs.

"No you're not late in fact you have perfect timing. I would have been late if I had to walk the whole way. Thank you, senpai." Haruhi readily accepted the ride and climbed into the limo. Plus, she didn't want to admit it, but it looked like a storm was headed their way. She truly didn't want to get caught in a rain storm while walking on the way to school.

The day progressed much as the days had before and school was punctuated with the twins being more rambunctious than usual. The only exception being the fact that Haruhi was actually smiling. This fact did not go unnoticed by her classmates or her designators. "Haruhi-kun, has something good happened recently?" asked one of the girls sitting with her as she picked up her tea and took a sip.

"Well, yes you could say that. Someone that I love has returned to me." Haruhi was blunt and truthful as always. Her statement caused a twinge in the heart of several who had been secretly trying to keep an eye on their club member. They knew the truth, but to hear her say it the way she did was misleading. The girls seated around her swooned, as they too, obviously took her statement to mean that a lost lover had returned. The other host's attention was glaringly obvious to Haruhi, "Tamaki, both twins, and Mori-senpai all seem to be staring at me, and on occasion, I happen to glance over, and Kyoya-senpai is glaring at me as well" Haruhi thought to herself. As the guest filed out at the end of the day, Haruhi caught Huni-senpai and asked him if he noticed anything unusual about today. He told her that the only thing different was that he had seen a real smile on her face for the first time in almost 7 months. When she tried to ask more specifically about the other Hosts, Hikaru interrupts to ask if he and his brother may come over after school today. "No, not today. Give dad some time to readjust to being home. When I left for school this morning, he hadn't even gone to the bar yet. Maybe over the weekend, or next weekend would be better." Dejected, Hikaru leaned on his brother and whined about not being loved anymore.

After all the guests had left, Haruhi was still cleaning the last of the dishes when Huni-senpai peeked in to offer her a ride. "No thanks, I'm good. Thank you." As Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai made their way out to their limo, only Kyoya and Tamaki were left with Haruhi. Tamaki, of course, was trying everything under the sun to convince Haruhi to let him give her a ride home. Frustrated at his childish whining and temper tantrums, Haruhi stomped her foot hard on the ground, with her fists on her hips, "I said NO. I do not need you to give me a ride home today. I am very grateful for all the rides you have given me so far, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I am going to the exact same place and Kyoya-senpai. Therefore, I will not have you waste your gas and time to go out of your way to take me home. And dammit, if it really comes down to it, I will just take the train like I used to do last year. Now, GO!" And with that Tamaki stomped off leaving only Haruhi and Kyoya alone to finish cleaning up.

"Haruhi, you didn't have to yell at him. He just wants to spend time with you, you know. He cares about you." Kyoya stares at Haruhi from behind his laptop.

"Senpai, I know that everyone cares for me. I know that everyone wants the best for me. And I know that if they didn't care, that nothing would have gone right in the last half year. But since the start of club activities today, I have had holes bored through me from everyone's stares. You included. It's as if I have some strange alien growing out of my forehead or something. Why is everyone staring at me? And why, when I ask them about it, does everyone act like I am a bother. For once in a very, very long time, things are going better than I would expect. Dad is home, we have a roof over our heads, food in our tummies, he has a job still, I have friends who have cared for me while I didn't think I could care for myself, my grades are coming back up, and… well even though the debt isn't exactly a good thing, at least it is with someone who I trust will be fair. And, by the way, I know I may have said it before, but thank you. Anyway, things are good, but then why was everyone looking at me like I have a plague… well, everyone except Tamaki, who wont take no for an answer."

"Haruhi, do you know what will take place in about five months?" Kyoya asks ask he packs his laptop up and prepares for the ride home.

"You and Tamaki graduate, right?"

"Yes. And do you and the twins have any other potential club members lined up yet?"

"No, why would we?"

"Well, simply put, even though Huni-senpai and Mori-senpai have been coming every day, and Tamaki and I will come as well, as long as there is a club to come to, there is a problem. There needs to be five high school students for a club to be a valid activity. That means that they might close down the Host club if there is only Hikaru, Kaoru, and yourself. On top of that, because of club activities, Tamaki has not allowed himself to get close to any particular female, save one who does not appear interested in him. Further more, there is the distinct possibility that Tamaki's grandmother will force him into an arranged marriage after he graduates from high school." Kyoya's face showed a stern but caring look as he spoke.

He continued on, "In less time than you have had to deal with your family being torn apart, Tamaki will have to deal with the same, only he knows its coming but does not see an end to it like you got. Since he started the Host Club, it has been his baby. He calls all of the hosts his family. And in fact, thanks to his grandmother, Tamaki sees us as his ONLY family. And we are about to be torn apart. He just wants to spend time with the only girl who he has felt truly close to before we all go our separate ways. And honestly, many of us can understand where he is coming from."

The pair makes their way to Kyoya's limo as he adds, "And he's not the only one who was showing signs of longing to spend time with someone special today. Although the twins will get a whole other year with you since you three share the same class, Huni and Mori will not. And I have it on good authority that when I asked you if anything happened while I was away, you lied to me. You became weak and nearly fainted, so one of our fellow hosts carried you to the garden and held you. My source tells me that the one thing that the whole club finds fascinating about you is your lack of awareness when someone is essentially confessing to you. The 'special someone' that was referred to when you were being held in the garden, is the same person that Tamaki wants to spend time with… the same, no, the only person that the twins ever fought over. Even Huni-senpai skipped time at the dojo to try to spend time with that special person. The special person that each host wants to spend time with is the same person that is going home together with me right now." He let's that bit of information sink in. Knowing Haruhi, it will take a minute. She is intelligent, but not very fast on the uptake when it comes to social skills.


	24. Alternate ending chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

**Previously in chapter nine: **The special person that each host wants to spend time with is the same person that is going home together with me right now." He let's that bit of information sink in. Knowing Haruhi, it will take a minute. She is intelligent, but not very fast on the uptake when it comes to social skills.

**Chapter Ten**

Kyoya pulls out his cell phone and looks up a text that he received a few days back. "Ahh here it is. And according to my very reliable source, let's see… weeping into his chest, and then the conversation went something like this… _Senpai, do you have a girlfriend? No. Do you have someone that you like? Yes, but she is out of reach. Out of reach? What do you mean? Like an idol or star, of sorts. Everyone's sweetheart, no one can claim her as their own. She must be special. She is. So why don't you tell her? She wouldn't believe me if I did. Why not? She doesn't know how special she is, and to how many people she is special to. She thinks that she is just an ordinary girl. But she couldn't be more wrong. Would she, maybe, get jealous if she saw me like this?_ Apparently there was no verbal response to that question. Anyway continuing on with the conversation, it goes on… _She should be. Because you will get snatched up if you ever put yourself out there seriously. You're too good to pass up. Shall we go back? After I stop by the restroom to wash my face, that is. I'll be right there._ Ahh here it is, the part you wouldn't have heard…_ Why would 'she' be jealous, when you are the 'she' in question, my dear sweet Haruhi?_ End of message. So, either you didn't see that as something worthy of reporting, or you also harbor feeling for Mori-senpai. Haruhi, I have to ask, please forgive me for prying into your personal affairs, but do YOU have someone special that you like?"

"Wait, wait, wait! How did you get the conversation between me and Mori-senpai that took place while you were not at school, and in a text?" Leave it to Haruhi to miss the obvious.

"I told you that I put bodyguards on you the day that your dad disappeared. They are still in place right now. After your dad and I sign the contract tonight, that is when I will feel comfortable enough that no one will come after you; that is when I will call them back. And, in addition to guards, someone was doing some checking up on you on their own. Afraid that I would get burned if I got involved in this deal, this text was sent so that I was fully aware of my situation. Even without knowledge of this conversation I am still fully aware." They slide into the waiting limo and rode in silence until just before reaching their destination.

"Haruhi, may I ask a very personal question, again" he paused, waiting for a response.

"Uhn, what is it, Senpai?"

"Do YOU have someone special that you like? Someone that caused you to look towards Mori-senpai for advice? Or maybe even Mori himself?"

"I, well, I don't know how to honestly answer that because... I, umm... Well you know that I love my Host Club family, but there is someone who, over time, my feelings have grown stronger for him than the rest, but..." she trailed off, staring out the window.

"But?"

"But, I don't know if he cares. In fact, out of everyone I know, he seems to be the hardest to understand. But it doesn't matter really, because if I were rejected by him, it would be near impossible to do what I need to do at school. So I will not confess."

Kyoya adjusted his glasses and wiped away a tear, thankful that Haruhi was not looking in his direction at that moment. He could tell who she meant, so it took him a moment to find his voice. "So instead of confessing, you sit idly by and hope for the best? That's not the Haruhi that we all know and love." He would not be the one to win her heart, at least he could hope for her happiness.

"What are you saying senpai? That I should confess? Put myself out there just to have the elite of Ouran High School trample on my commoner heart? Really?" She looked absolutely shocked, like she had just been told to stand naked in front of a live television camera. The look on her face was priceless. It brought a smile back to his lips.

"No, of course not. All I am saying is that maybe you shouldn't assume that you know how other's feel until you ask them personally. Or at least don't jump to conclusions just because you don't hear someone tell you that they care for you. For example, if you happen to think about any one of the host club, I can promise you that even if they don't tell you that you are special to them, you are. Beyond simply special, you are deep in the heart of each and every one of the host club."

"Each?"

"Yes, each and every one. I promise. Do you want proof?"

"What kind of proof could you even begin to show me?"

"Let's see. A ride to and from school every day; a scholarship for college; dinner almost every night to keep from you having to eat alone; and then the larger things, such as finding your father for you and keeping security on you while your father was missing; and lest we forget, there is always such things as confessing that it's you that he loves while you are off in the bathroom freshening up after he held you while you cried. Do I really need to continue?" Maybe if he said it more bluntly, she would catch on.

"Confessing while I was in the bathroom? What do you mean?" Nope, she was dense.

Kyoya pulled out his phone once again and showed Haruhi the text message that he received from his sister. He scrolled down to the point where Mori-senpai had spoken out loud to no one, or so he thought, that Haruhi was the one that he had been talking about. Instead of reading it out loud to her, this time he actually showed it to her for her to read on her own. Hopefully it would sink in this time.

She read the message. Blinked, then looked at Kyoya, then re-read the message again. After about the fourth time of reading the message she looked at Kyoya. "How can you be sure that he said this? I mean I recognize the rest of the conversation, but how? Why? Did he really say this?"

He climbed out of the limo and made his way up to her apartment to finalize the repayment of the debt with Ranka. Haruhi stood just outside the door of the limo, frozen and confused.

"Haruhi, are you coming?" Kyoya's voice brought her back from the void.

"Ahh, yes."


	25. Alternate ending chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

**Previously in chapter ten: **He climbed out of the limo and made his way up to her apartment to finalize the repayment of the debt with Ranka. Haruhi stood just outside the door of the limo, frozen and confused.

"Haruhi, are you coming?" Kyoya's voice brought her back from the void.

"Ahh, yes."

**Chapter Eleven**

Kyoya dealt with the necessary paperwork, and then left for the evening. Unwilling to deal with Tamaki or the twins, Haruhi took the phone off the hook for the weekend. She didn't want anything to come between her and her father catching up. She cooked them dinner, and the two spend some well earned father-daughter time alone. Ranka had found the notebook as he wandered around the house while she was at school, and had read it. Kyoya had also made mention, at one point, that he was pretty sure that one of the host club members may, just may, come forward and ask to court Haruhi. He wouldn't mention who it was, but he relieved Ranka's fears that it was not the idiot Tamaki. But try as he might, Ranka could not get his daughter to admit who it was that Kyoya alluded to.

The next day there was no school, so Haruhi accompanied her father to his club for his first visit since his return. Haruhi met the man who had been in charge of paying her rent and dropping off food money for her. She hadn't met him before. She saw how her father held him in the highest regards. After some time, however, her father had fallen back into work habits despite his previous protests that he would not go to work yet until he spent more time with Haruhi. After a few hours, Haruhi made an excuse and told her father that she would see him at home later that night as she made her exit.

Once she was home, she double checked to make sure she had the phone cradled, incase her father called. No sooner had she fixed her supper than the phone rang. Tamaki frantically begged her to allow them to come over. "Kyoya wouldn't let us go over. He told us that if we bothered you today that he would make us regret it. I think the Low Blood Pressure Shadow King made an appearance despite the fact that we hadn't just woken him up. It was scary, Haruhi. Daddy will protect you from Mommy though, never fear."

"Tamaki-senpai, I appreciate that, for once, you didn't just show up. Dad and I really did need the day alone to get caught up. He's at work now, and I don't know when he will be home, though. Is it just you, or is the whole club wanting to come over?"

"It is all of us. Did you say that your father wasn't home? Then surely we will be right over." Tamaki said without even waiting for an answer he hung up.

Less than half an hour later, four out of six boys stood at her door. Haruhi let them in and asked where the other two were. "Huni-senpai wanted to stop for cakes, so he and Mori-senpai came in a separate vehicle." Haruhi made tea for everyone, thankful that she wouldn't have to make snacks as well. As she walked into the living room, the other two showed up at the door and she let them in.

Their evening was otherwise uneventful, despite what one would expect when the host club shows up at Haruhi's home. After sharing the cakes that Huni-senpai brought, the talked about how Haruhi had survived being home alone for so long. Her friends were actually impressed with her strength and resilience. Kyoya was seen shooting strange looks at Haruhi and some of the other hosts, but when she questioned him about it, he denied that he had been doing so. Late in the evening, the first four that showed up made their way to leave, but Huni-senpai offered to stay and help with cleanup.

After saying goodbye to her guests, Haruhi joined Huni-senpai carrying dishes to the kitchen. She started to wash them, as Huni-senpai complained that he couldn't reach the upper cabinets to put up some items. When Mori-senpai came in to help, Huni-senpai excused himself from the kitchen, leaving them alone.

"Um, Mori-senpai?"

The tall boy looked at her, continuing to dry and put away the dishes that she washed.

"The other day, when I freaked out during club…" she paused, unsure how exactly to proceed with the questions running through her mind. "… did you know that someone followed us out into the garden?"

"They did?"

"Yes, and she heard what we talked about. In fact, she heard more than I did. According to her text, you spoke to me, after I left to go to the bathroom."

"And?"

"Senpai, can I ask you a question?"

"Uhn"

"Did you really say that ask why the girl that you like would be jealous of me, when I was the one you were talking about?" She finally looked at him instead of the dishes she had been cleaning.

Mori-senpai had his back to her, placing the dishes in the cupboard. He didn't say anything, but instead froze where he stood. For what seemed like hours, but was probably more like seconds, they both stood perfectly still and perfectly silent. Finally, he nodded. Still with his back to her, he wasn't sure if she saw, but he didn't have the courage to turn around. He was afraid that she would immediately demand that he leave, and tell him that she never wanted to see him again or something. Fear froze him to the spot and doubly so as he heard footsteps in the tiny little kitchen. Then he felt her small delicate hand touch his arm. He looked down at the hand on his arm, and then followed the arm up to the shoulders, pausing for fear of what he would find on her face. When he finally gathered the courage to look at her in the eyes, her smile radiated through them. He lost himself in her eyes. Before realizing what he was doing, his arms inched around her petite waist, drawing her into a hug.

When he finally realized what he had done, he pulled back abruptly and searched her eyes. There was no fear or hesitation in her eyes, only confirmation that he was not alone in his feelings. He saw the look in her eyes that told him that his fears were unfounded, and that his dreams could become a reality. With that, he pulled her into a hug again.

And with that, applause erupted from the doorway. They were so engrossed in their own conversation that they had not heard her father come home. Nor had they heard both of their family members, her father and his cousin, make their way to the kitchen doorway. It wasn't until they had hugged the second time that the two made their presents known, both grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

The two love-birds blushed furiously, but did not break contact immediately. When they did break apart, they finished the dishes and joined Ranka and Huni-senpai in the living room. Huni was falling asleep but didn't want to go home yet. He wouldn't admit it, but he wanted Haruhi and his cousin to spend more time together. They both deserved happiness. Finally, the two left, with the understanding that they would pick Haruhi up for school the next morning.


	26. Alternate ending chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

**Previously in chapter eleven: **Huni was falling asleep but didn't want to go home yet. He wouldn't admit it, but he wanted Haruhi and his cousin to spend more time together. They both deserved happiness. Finally, the two left, with the understanding that they would pick Haruhi up for school the next morning.

**Chapter Twelve**

The next morning truly was business as usual, now that her father was home. Haruhi followed the same routine as she had before Ranka's disappearance. The only difference is, this time, when she headed out the door towards school, there sat not one, but two limos waiting to take her to school. The twins hopped out of the lead limo, but right behind them was Mori-senpai and Huni-senpai with a very stern look on the shorter man's face. The twins took one look at their senpais and screeched! They ran back to their limo screaming, "The Low Blood Pressure Demon is going to kill us!" The older of the two seniors would not have the devil twins interrupting his cousin's limited time with his new girlfriend, even if neither of them admitted it yet.

Haruhi, who had been running out of the door with a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth, stopped and lost her toast. It fell out of her mouth as she stood there gaping at her friend and senpai with a deadly look on his face while he stared down her classmates/friends/club members. It was a sight that one had to witness to believe. She knew that the twins would not keep quiet, and steeled herself for a day of ribbing and teasing. It wasn't anything new with that pair though. They were always at her, teasing her about one thing or another.

The twins' limo took off like a speed demon, as Haruhi made her way to the other limo. "Senpai, you didn't have to scare them. Now they are going to torment me all day until we get to the club."

"It's ok Haru-chan, if they do just tell us. We'll fix it. Right Takeshi?" Huni-senpai said as he bounced into the limo.

"Uhn" Mori-senpai replied as he stood back for Haruhi to enter the vehicle first.

"Thank you senpai," Haruhi replied as she climbed into the vehicle.

"Can we give you a ride home too, after club Haru-chan?" asked Huni-senpai as he bounced on the seat across from Haruhi and Mori-senpai expectantly.

"Sure," she said with a smile. It was expected to rain all day. She was grateful for the offer. She rested back against the soft kid leather seat. As she laid her hands at her side, she felt her hand graze against Mori-senpai's hand. As she looked over at their hands, he lifted his hand and placed over the top of hers, curling his fingers around hers and then smiled at her. She had seen him smile before, but never had it warmed her heart as much as it did right then.

Huni-senpai babbled the rest of the way to the school, as Haruhi and Mori-senpai sat silently, agreeing with the happy teen that kept them company. They arrived at the school and dropped Haruhi off before heading on their way to college. She smiled as she watched the limo head off, until she felt an identical pair of arms lace around her. "What?"

"Haruhi…" she hears her name whispered into both ears at the same time.

"…what were you doing…" she hears in her right ear.

"…with the senpais…" softly spoken into her left ear.

"… so early in the morning after we left them at your place late last night?" whispered in unison into both ears at the same time.

"The came to give me a ride to school. You guys left so late that they were afraid I would oversleep. What were you two doing there?" she queried back ignoring their innuendo.

"We just wanted to make sure you got to school ok."

"So you had the same intentions as they did, right?"

Kaoru mumbled under his breath, "doubtful" as he walked away. The rest of the day was as uneventful as a day with the twins could be. During club hours, however, the twins did everything in their power to disrupt Haruhi's peace, dragging Tamaki along with them into their chaos. As club hours ended, Tamaki began to insist that he be able to give Haruhi a ride home, at the twins' encouragement.

"No thank you, senpai. I have already been promised a ride home. Thank you, though."

"What? Who dares take my 'father's right' of giving you a ride home? How dare they?"

"Senpai, it is not your right to give me a ride home. I can choose to ride with others if I want to. And you're not my father. My father is finally home, and he seems perfectly fine with who I am getting a ride with." _Why? Why can't he get it through his thick skull that I am not his daughter? Why does he have to whine and worm his way into everything in my life? _Haruhi was truly frustrated.

"But Haruuuuuhiiiiiii!!!" whined Tamaki, "why won't you let daddy take you home?"

"Senpai, I am sorry to yelling at you the other day, but I don't need a ride home. Thank you. As I said, I was perfectly capable of walking before dad disappeared. I can do it again. So, again, thank you for offering, but I don't need a ride." She had no intention of telling anyone how she was getting home, as it would only cause more problems.

Huni-senpai and Mori–senpai dropped Haruhi off after club hours, but didn't plan on staying until Ranka asked them to stay with Haruhi while he worked because a storm was coming. He knew that her phobia would cause her problems, and didn't want to leave her alone. "Huni-senpai, Mori-senpai, would you two like to stay for supper then?" They acquiesced, and accepted the invitation. Haruhi was able to complete the meal preparations before the storm hit. The moment the first strike of lightning hit, however, found her clamoring for the underside of the table. Mori-senpai grabbed her and pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her completely engulfing her small frame. He started whispering soothing words to her, to drown out the sounds from outside as she clung to him. Tightly grasping his shirt and burying her face against his chest, she found his deep low voice to be very calming. She rode out the storm like that. Huni-senpai never said anything, only kept watch on his friends.

As the storm ended, Mori-senpai found that Haruhi had fallen asleep in his arms. He carefully carried her to her room and laid her in her bed. Huni-senpai took some paper from Haruhi's school bag and wrote Ranka a note explaining what had happened. They thought it only fair that he be told exactly what happened considering he knew Haruhi's fear.

The next morning, they picked up Haruhi for school again. She hadn't expected it, so as she was running out the door trying to throw on her blazer and book bag, while fumbling with toast that she was trying to gulp down in a rush, she ran straight over Huni-senpai. "I'm so sorry senpai. I didn't watch where I was going."


	27. Alternate ending chapter 13

**A/N I am sooooo sorry that I forgot to run one last check before uploading the previous copy of this chapter! My 19 yr old son was being… ummm shall I say, a smartie pants. I can not apologize enough for allowing that to happen. Please forgive me. The new chapter isn't a big change, I just deleted his childish phrase from where he inserted it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Ouran High School Host Club" or any of the characters in this wonderful manga/anime in any way. **

**Missing his heart**

**Previously in chapter twelve: **The next morning, they picked up Haruhi for school again. She hadn't expected it, so as she was running out the door trying to throw on her blazer and book bag, while fumbling with toast that she was trying to gulp down in a rush, she ran straight over Huni-senpai. "I'm so sorry senpai. I didn't watch were I was going."

**Chapter Thirteen**

"It's ok Haru-chan. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just frazzled because I didn't get my homework done last night and now I am running late to get to school."

"We came to give you a ride."

"That will help, thank you."

They climbed into the limo and rode in silence until Haruhi looked up at Mori-senpai, "Mori-senpai…"

"Takeshi."

"Ehh?"

"Call me Takeshi."

"Eh, um, ok. T-T-Takeshi, thank you for last night. It really helped me."

He wrapped his arm around her in a one armed hug and smiled down at her. Before she got out at the school, he turned to her and wrapped her in a full hug with both arms pulling her to him tightly. She returned the hug, and he kissed her lightly on her forehead. After he released her, she climbed out of the limo and watched it as it left.

"Ano, Haruhi? Was that Huni-senpai's limo that you rode to school in again?" She turned around to see Kyoya-senpai staring at her and the limo that had just left.

"Ahh, yes, senpai, it was. Did you need to speak to them?"

"No, if I did, it could wait until club anyways. I just thought I saw something rather unusual when the door opened."

"What?"

"Mori-senpai grinning ear to ear."

"Eh, yeah Tak… err, Mori-senpai probably was, now that you mention it."

"I see. Well then. I guess I will see you at club later today, correct?"

"Of course, senpai."

Haruhi walked away, but for the briefest of moments, if anyone had been looking, you could have seen a terribly sad expression on her senpai's face. It didn't last long, of course. Otori's don't show emotion. He pushed he glasses back up on the bridge of his nose and turned to walk to his class.

Later that day, when they arrived at the club, Huni-senpai pulled Tamaki aside and explained that it would be in his best interest to not bug Haruhi about a ride again today. He explained to his kouhai that Haruhi already had a ride and it would be inconvenient to explain that in front of the twins who would pester her until she explained. That was a good enough explanation for him after seeing his senpai being taken over by the Low Blood Pressure Demon. He left the situation alone, after hearing from the twins about the morning before, and then Kyoya told him what he had seen that very morning. Even if he did act like an idiot at times, Tamaki knew when he was beat. Mori-senpai had beaten him to the heart of the girl he cared for.

Ever the perfect hosts, all hosts entertained the ladies during the club hours and none knew that anything was wrong. However, once the ladies had left, the meeting to plan other events had an atmosphere heavily laden with disappointment. Finally, Haruhi could handle no more. "What is going on? Why is everyone behaving like the world has ended?"

"Haruhi, do you have something that you need to tell us?" asked Tamaki.

"Not particularly. What are you getting at?"

"Haruhi, are you keeping a secret?"

"What kind of secret do you think that I am keeping from you? Seriously senpai, why can't you just answer me directly?"

"Haruhi…" Tamaki started to shed a single tear, unable to find the voice to continue what he was saying.

"Haruhi, we're glad that Ranka has been returned to you. It makes us all very happy to see you smile again. But lately, it seems that someone else, besides just Ranka, is making you smile. It feels like your keeping a secret from the rest of us… that or you just are more unaware of yourself than we thought," spoke Kyoya for the now silent Tamaki.

"Your happiness, though, seems to make some of us unhappy." Kyoya took Haruhi's hands into his own. "I know that there are more members of this club who wish that the person who could make you smile this much was them. Some of us would do anything to have you choose them. I am probably speaking out of turn, but with out a doubt, Tamaki, at least one if not both of the twins, as well as myself, all wish that we could be the one that you fell for. But we are all pretty much aware that we have lost out to our senpai. So, I guess there isn't much for us to say. We just all wanted to deny the truth, to allow us to continue to be under the illusion that you still belonged to all of us. Or better yet, maybe we were in denial to allow each to believe that you belonged to only him.

"Haruhi, although it pains me that you would not choose me, I hope for your happiness and do not want our friendship to be destroyed because of your choice. And surely, our fellow club members may take time, but will eventually come to the same conclusion." Kyoya turned towards Mori-senpai still not letting go of Haruhi's hands, "Mori-senpai, please take care of her. She truly is the one and only true Princess of Ouran High School's Host Club. If you fail to take care of her properly, one or more of us will come take her from you." Kyoya kissed Haruhi's forehead, put her hands into Mori-senpai's hands, pushed up his glasses, took a deep breath, grabbed his book bag and laptop, and walked out of the club room.

Kaoru and Hikaru wrapped her in a hug and each kissing her cheek. "If you ever dump him, give us a call. We will be there instantly to snatch you back." Then, they released her and walked out of the club room as well, leaving only Tamaki, Huni-senpai, and the couple.

Tamaki, who had sat still the whole time, finally sighed. He looked first at Mori-senpai, then at Haruhi, and sighed again. "Haruhi, I never thought about the future in that way. Apparently that was my mistake. I always thought that we would all be together forever. I never considered that you would become involved with someone, never mind that it would be a club member. As your daddy, I hope you're happy. As your friend, I wish it had been me," Tamaki turned towards his senpai. "If she ever is unhappy, disappointed, or regrets her decision in any way, I will be taking her from you." He hugged Haruhi then turned to run out of the room with tears streaming from his eyes.

The couple looked at each other then turned to look at Huni-senpai. "Eh, I guess they know, huh? So, what do you say, shall we go too? Maybe we could stop for cake on the way." He just shrugged and headed out the door towards the limo waiting for the three of them.

Haruhi had a look that screamed "What the heck just happened?" on her face that caused Mori-senpai to start laughing. He pulled her into his arms, since her hands were already in his. The embrace was warm and comforting, and lasted for quite a while. Slowly, he pulled back, reached up with one hand, and pulled her chin towards him. They shared the first of many kisses, alone in the empty club room that evening, after receiving the blessings of their club-mates.

Flash forward several years.

"Haruhi! Come on, your going to be late for your own graduation!" cried the short blond man bouncing up and down next to the limo.

"I know, I know, Mitsukuni. I'm coming! I've made sure that we will arrive in plenty of time." She turned her attention to the tall man behind her. "Alright already Takeshi. Stop moping. We can pick out a name later. I still have 7 more months to go!"

"Haruhi?" The unspoken question evident in the tone.

"Yes Mitsukuni, we're expecting… but if Takeshi doesn't hurry up, I wont still fit in my exclusive Hitachiin dress for my graduation. And then they twins will have to spend a whole day measuring me… with their hands all over my pregnant body. Can you imagine it?"

Her words lit a fire under her husband of four years.

"Nhn, No more Hitachiin dresses until after the baby comes." He finally descends the stairs and makes his way to the limo. "This is all mine, I won't share with anyone from the Ouran High School Host Club infamy," as he wraps his long arms around her slim waistline. She wasn't even showing yet, but they would tell their friends tonight as they celebrated her graduation from law school.

After the ceremony, she was approached by her employer and friend, Otori Kyoya. "You know, you could have gotten out of paying that debt that was racked up while your father was missing. Law school would have been paid for as well."

"Yes, I know. But I don't think I made the wrong choice. Just one that you wouldn't have made for me. You would have had me marry you. I can only imagine how that would have turned out. I still love you though. Just not how you wanted me to."

"Well, at least I was lucky enough to get you working for me before you became too famous. And as luck would have it, I took the last payment for Ranka-san's debt out of your paycheck yesterday. You are paid in full, my dearest Haruhi." Kyoya took Haruhi's hand and gently brought it to his lips.

"Hey Otori! Hands off my wife." The tall man walked towards the pair with a menacing look on his face, then smiled and shook Kyoya's hand. "By the way, she's going to need to talk to you about time off in a few months."

"What in the hell for, I just gave her a vacation four years ago so that you two could go on a honeymoon. She doesn't need another vacation yet." His tone was sharp but the smile on his face gave him away.

"Tell that to little Akira or Kenji," he smiled down at the man who had become his wife's boss, as well as at one point, been a rival for her attention.

"I said that we'd talk about names later, Takeshi. Besides," she glanced over at her friend and boss as she continued with her statement, "I was thinking that if it's a boy, we might name him Kyoya after one of my most favorite people."

From behind her was heard a voice that could not be denied, "That won't do! If it's a boy, he has to be named after his dearest mother's father, thus he should be named Tamaki!" She rolled her eyes before turning around to hug her friend.

"A line of professional looking maternity clothes! Not something we ever thought Hitachiin Designs would do…" in unison as always, the voices ring over the din of other chatter.

"…but I think that if it's for our toy…" whispered Kaoru into her right ear.

"…I guess we've no choice…" whispered Hikaru into her left ear.

"…but to create the new division for maternity clothes." Haruhi felt two pairs of arms wrap her up in a tight hug, rubbing her still flat belly.

"Devil twins!" shouts Tamaki glaring at them for ousting him from Haruhi's arms. It's not often that he, or any of the host club members get to hold Haruhi in their arms, since their senpai turned Haruhi's husband is a rather overprotective, jealous husband.

"Just like old times," she smiled as she surveyed her friends.

"Not quite." Her husband had removed the entangled twins from around her waist and wrapped his own strong arms around her leaning down to whisper into her ear as they looked out over their friends.

"Eh? How so?"

"Before, you were everybody's sweetheart. Now, you're my wife."

"And the mother of your child."

"With maybe more to come?"

"Have I told you lately that I love you."

With that, all members of the exclusive and infamous Ouran High School Host Club gathered at a nearby restaurant to celebrate the only female's graduation from law school, as well as the expectant arrival of a new Morinodzuka.


End file.
